CHILDREN today, already classified as digital natives in a world heavily dependent on technology, are mostly being raised by YouTube. The pandemic increased the YouTube dependency when it forced the shutdown of schools, limited physical contact, including sporting and other leisure activities, and forced some parents and guardians, especially those on work-at-home arrangements, to creatively fill their children’s demands for social engagement.

Those who care for children needed a break, and YouTube was available. But there are dangers. A 2017 article published on the “Medium” blogging platform reads: “On-demand video is catnip to both parents and to children, and thus to content creators and advertisers. Small children are mesmerised by these videos, whether it’s familiar characters and songs, or simply bright colours and soothing sounds.

“The length of many of these videos — one common video tactic is to assemble many nursery rhymes or cartoon episodes into hour+ compilations —and the way that length is marketed as part of the video’s appeal, points to the amount of time some kids are spending with them.”

The article, written by writer and artist with an interest in tech, James Bridle, documented some of the sinister ways lengthy YouTube videos, seemingly for kids, were being spliced and violent content inserted. Realistically, caregivers log their children onto YouTube and check in periodically– not often — by viewing the content, but by watching for how engaged the child is and listening for whimsical music.

The internet and social media platforms alike are largely borderless. Notwithstanding this, many of the safety policies, and updated user agreements which internet and social media users in global south countries, such as Guyana, have benefited from have largely been a result of activism, policy-making, and demands of legislature oversight bodies to companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, which owns YouTube.

The UK Guardian reported earlier this month that: “YouTube is showing videos that promote skin-bleaching, weight loss, drug culture and firearms to children as young as two, a new investigation of the company’s “Kids” app has found…,” the Guardian reported. It added: “Research from the Tech Transparency Project, a US-based non-profit organization, shows that the system is indeed far from perfect. Using three different accounts, each set to one of app’s age groups, the analysts discovered numerous videos that should not have made it past Google’s filters.”

Earlier this year, the US Congress considered the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill supported by both political parties in that legislature. The Act, which has to pass the House of Representatives and the Senate before being put before President Biden, would, according to the Washington Post, “demand that companies create tools to allow parents to track how much time their kids spend on a service, or to opt out of features such as autoplay, that might extend time online. Companies would also have to offer parents and minors the ability to modify tech companies’ recommendation algorithms, allowing them to limit or ban certain types of content.

“The bill also establishes an obligation for companies to prevent the promotion of self-harm, eating disorders, bullying and the sexual abuse of children. And it would allow the federal government to create a programme for researchers to access data from companies, so that they can do more research about tech’s potential harm of children and teens,” the Post noted.

Monitoring a child’s social-media content can be a daunting task, especially considering the number of other tasks caregivers must manage while caring for children. With YouTube implementing new changes and the other measures likely to follow once the Act passes, parents must be conscious of the circumstances surrounding a still-regulating internet space and remain vigilant, keeping a closer eye on the content children consume. Considering these are formative years, such content could shape their world views in ways that benefit or burden our society.