According to its website, the YouTube staff "carefully reviews flagged content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to determine whether there's a violation of our Community Guidelines." Yet the social media platform declined to comment on why the company continues to see content slip through its filters and how it's going to heighten efforts to tackle this growing problem.įortunately, for the first time, social media giants are getting called out and starting to take responsibility for how people are using their platforms: Google recently deleted 60 kid-themed apps from its Google Play app store after security firm Check Point found that they contained malware that could display pornographic content, trick users into installing fake "security apps" or induce them to sign up for premium SMS services. It is also using machine-learning to mine for harmful content targeting kids.
To address the growing problem, YouTube has terminated more than 50 channels and removed thousands of videos from its platform. However, in the last five years, when I follow the trail all the way back, it's YouTube and that's where it ends," said Daniels. In the past, whenever I did some investigating, I would find a child who has been molested himself or that an adult has been grooming the child for abuse. This usually indicates some sort of sexual abuse. "There have been times when a child is brought to my office between eight and 10 and they're found doing sexual things: oral sex, kissing and getting naked and acting out sexual poses. These children exhibit loss of appetite, sleeplessness, crying fits and fear.ĭaniels said parents should heed YouTube's terms of service, which states, "The Service is not intended for children under 13." She continues, "I'm seeing this impacting kids between the ages of six to 12, but it's the younger ones that are really concerning."Įven more disturbing than the videos that cause stressful emotions are the ones containing sexually explicit content that target children. Over the last five years, she said she has seen a rise in cases of children suffering from anxiety triggered by videos they have watched on YouTube.
"YouTube is an ongoing conversation in my therapy practice, which indicates there's a problem," she said.
She is the founder of, an educational website for parents. Natasha Daniels, LCSW, child psychotherapist in Chandler, Arizona, agrees. Source: American Psychological Association Your child is eating too much or too little. Your child is sleeping too much or too little. Your child is clinging to a parent or teacher. Your child is complaining, crying, or displaying fearful reactions. Signs your child is experiencing emotional stress These offending videos are only a fraction of YouTube's kid-friendly universe, yet they are another example of the potential for abuse on digital platforms that rely on algorithms to police content - and the latest in a string of reports that reveal the dark side of technology on young minds. What's worse, some of this content is filtering down into YouTube Kids, an app launched by Google in 2015 that has 11 million viewers and is supposed to contain only child-friendly content. "Children who repeatedly experience stressful and/or fearful emotions may underdevelop parts of their brain's prefrontal cortex and frontal lobe, the parts of the brain responsible for executive functions, like making conscious choices and planning ahead, said Donna Volpitta, Ed.D., founder of The Center for Resilient Leadership." More from Modern Medicine: Apple urged to take action on smartphone addiction some call 'digital heroin' Internet addiction is sweeping America, affecting millions Scientists narrow down the startling risk factors that can cause autismĪccording to medical experts, this content has an adverse effect on the developing brain.