YouTube has been tackling the issue of pedophilic comments on videos on young children but it has come under criticism for what many believe are steps that aren’t adequate enough. It shut down comments on videos with young kids earlier this year and also promised to implement smarter comment filtering using AI. However, the company might be looking to make a major change now by moving all kids’ videos to a dedicated app.
The Wall Street Journal hears that YouTube has been thinking about moving all child-oriented videos on its platforms to its standalone Kids app. It would also disable the autoplay feature on those videos. YouTube will likely take a hit on ad revenues with these moves but they should be able to address the comments issue as well as keep kids away from objectionable content.
What’s not clear at this point in time is precisely when the company is planning on making this switch. A spokeswoman for the company told the scribe that YouTube considers many ideas but there are always some that remain just ideas. So no official confirmation yet and there’s always the possibility that this plan may end up being shelved.
There’s also a possibility that YouTube might not get a final call on the decision. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is said to be involved “personally” in working YouTube through some of its recent problems. If he decided that the shift is worth it to protect kids on the platform than YouTube’s management may just have to comply with his directives.