YouTube to remove ‘misleading family content’ to protect children from adult videos

In an effort to create a safer online space for children on its platform, YouTube is removing all content containing adult themes that purposefully target minors.

“We’re removing misleading family content, including videos that target younger minors and families, that contain sexual themes, violence, obscene, or other mature themes not suitable for young audiences,” the company said in an update.

While YouTube previously age-restricted such videos, the platform will now only apply age restrictions to videos that are aimed at, and meant for adults, with no misleading titles or content designed to attract a child’s attention.

According to the company, the banned content will include videos that “explicitly target younger minors and families with phrasing such as “for kids” or “family fun” in the video’s title, description and/or tags that contain vulgar language”.

YouTube will remove offending videos starting next month, giving content creators time to correct their videos and familiarise themselves with the changes.

Feature image: Memeburn