Complaints to Google about the YouTube Kids app
Consumer and child protection organizations in the United States are accusing Google of inadequately inspecting advertisements displayed on the special YouTube Kids application "for children 5 years old and younger," and are turning to the competent Commission to stop it.
Among others, the Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Consumer Watchdog are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate their complaints. As they state in a letter sent to the FTC on April 7, 2015, cartoon series shown on the YouTube Kids app on Android and iOS devices contain product placement, while such a thing is explicitly prohibited on television, on the one hand, and on the other by the terms of service itself. They state that “advertisements or content that urge children to buy a product or service or to ask their parents or others to buy something for them are prohibited.” The distinction between advertising and content is blurred, the organizations complain, referring in particular to Mattel’s channel for Fisher Price products.
They also report that the YouTube Kids app with "user videos" includes videos in which the creator promotes products, paid for by collaborating businesses, without mentioning this relationship.
Finally, they complain that while products related to the consumption of food and beverages are prohibited, regardless of their nutritional value, 30-second television advertisements for McDonald's Happy Meals appear on the fast food chain's special channel on the YouTube Kids app.
Responding to the complaints, a Google spokesperson responded through Reuters that representatives of the organizations have never been in contact with the YouTube Kids team, although it remains constantly available to all interested parties, noting that it completely disagrees with their allegations.
Despite the fact that there are many features that make the use of YouTube safer for children in the app, mainly thanks to the grouping of content as suitable for children, parents note in their comments on the app that the false impression is created that the child can watch without any supervision - given the ability to set the allowed viewing time - but this is not the case, as the complaints testify.
Source: tech.in.gr/
