{"id":892443,"date":"2026-03-18T02:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/youtube-adds-more-protections-for-teen-users\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T02:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:19:14","slug":"youtube-adds-more-protections-for-teen-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/youtube-adds-more-protections-for-teen-users\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube Adds More Protections for Teen Users"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Amid ongoing discussions about the impacts of social media on young users<\/a>, YouTube is rolling out some new updates to its parental controls<\/a>, which will enable parents to manage their kids\u2019 screen time, with specific elements for Shorts versus the regular YouTube feed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Because like TikTok and Reels, the never-ending Shorts feed of video clips can be addictive, and can keep people scrolling longer than they intend to.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In order to help manage this, YouTube will now give parents a new option to implement a \u201cShorts Feed Limit,\u201d so they can set an amount of time that their kids can scroll through Shorts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

As explained by YouTube<\/a>:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>Parents can now help teens be even more intentional about how they watch, with a control to set the amount of time spent scrolling Shorts. And soon, parents will see the option to set the timer to zero. For example, they can set the Shorts feed limit to zero when they want their teen to use YouTube to focus on homework, and change it to 60 minutes during a long car trip to be entertained.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So parents will now have more capacity to manage when their children are allowed to scroll through Shorts, which could address concerns around them wasting hours mindlessly swiping through the feed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If, of course, those parents are actually using YouTube\u2019s parental controls, and are able to oversee that detail, while it also depends on how kids are viewing YouTube (i.e. if they\u2019re logged in). That\u2019s a whole other element, but it provides another option that will enable parents to better manage their kids\u2019 time in the app, which could provide more assurance.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Which leads into the next update: YouTube\u2019s also rolling out an updated sign-up\/sign-in experience which will enable parents create accounts for their kids, and easily switch between accounts in the mobile app, depending on who\u2019s watching.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s more like the Netflix or Disney+ style of log in, where each account\u2019s individual settings will be customized based on each user. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019ll give parents another way to ensure their kids are having a safe viewing experience, by choosing what level of content exposure they\u2019re comfortable with for their kids.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And YouTube is confident that its content filtering tools do keep kids away from harmful content, which, in its view, provides a better approach than trying to ban teens from the app.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in protecting kids <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>in\u00a0the digital world, not <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>from\u00a0the digital world. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve spent over a decade building tailored products and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>built-in protections\u00a0for our youngest viewers.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a core tenet that all the major platforms have argued in response to proposed (and enacted<\/a>) teen social media bans, that online platforms now play such a significant role in social connection that blanket bans simply won\u2019t work, and a better approach is to provide more protective measures in-stream.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A key concern about blanket bans, like the new rules in Australia<\/a>, is that this will push teens to less regulated, less secure platforms instead, whereas YouTube, and other mainstream apps, have spent years implementing protections.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a solid argument, but even so, more nations are reportedly looking to follow Australia\u2019s lead in implementing higher age thresholds for social media access.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Which, in many respects, feels more like a ploy to win over older voters than one rooted in what\u2019s best for kids. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, YouTube\u2019s also introducing <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>new principles<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0as well as a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>creator guide<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u201cto steer teens toward content that is fun, age-appropriate, higher-quality, and more enriching.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDeveloped in partnership with our <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>Youth Advisory Committee\u00a0and the <\/span>Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA\u00a0and supported by global experts from the <\/span>American Psychological Association,\u00a0<\/span>Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, and other global organizations, these principles outline the types of content that are deemed to be low quality and high quality for teen audiences.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, more teen protections, more guidance on beneficial YouTube usage, and more ways for parents to oversee and manage their kids\u2019 time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Will that slow the push for all young teens to be booted from social apps? Probably not, but there is logic in YouTube\u2019s various counterarguments. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Amid ongoing discussions about the impacts of social media on young users, YouTube is rolling out some new updates to its parental controls, which will enable parents to manage their kids\u2019 screen time, with specific elements for Shorts versus the regular YouTube feed. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":892444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81685,49,104640],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-892443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-protections","category-youtube","category-youtube-videos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}