YouTube's Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative.
Credit: YouTube India
Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and other video sharing platforms have become a huge source of free multimedia content for entertainment, general knowledge, technical guides on consumer electronics goods and more.
However, too much screen time can affect not just the eyes but also mental well-being. Also, there needs to be regulation on blocking age inappropriate content to young children.
To develop awareness on such issues, YouTube in collaboration with top content creators has announced the 'Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative'.
Top creators include Animaj, Benesse, BouncePatrol, ChuChu TV, CoroCoro Comic, EBS, Japan Football Association, Kedoo, Khan Academy, El Reino Infantil, MSP Estúdios, Miraculous Corp, Moonbug, The Pinkfong Company, The Wiggles, TV Cultura, and WildBrain.
In India, YouTube is collaborating with ChuChu TV, which is popular for its edutainment content for children from ages 1 to 6. It offers nursery rhymes, original songs, and educational content in multiple languages.
YouTube has promised to set age-appropriate defaults, where applicable, for sexually explicit content and graphic violence, in line with existing standards and reflective of educational, documentary, scientific and artistic context.
"The wellbeing of young people on our platform is a top priority at YouTube, and the Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative builds upon our longstanding efforts. This includes YouTube Kids and supervised experiences. We also continue to collaborate with third-party experts, including our recent work with the American Psychological Association to create a parents’ guide to navigating quality time spent online," said Neal Mohan, YouTube CEO.
To further improve the safeguards on Youtube, the company will invest in research-backed resources to bring relevant details to families and parents on how to improve the parental control for online access and ensure the kids get access only to age-appropriate content.
When people are looking for sensitive mental health topics such as suicide and self-harm, YouTube plans to bring features for youth to get access to crisis resources to overcome their difficulties and improve their emotional quotient.
“ChuChu TV is committed to researching and creating safe digital content tailored to children’s developmental stages, with a strong emphasis on play-based learning to promote and support children’s social and emotional digital well-being while empowering families with practical strategies for healthy and meaningful use of digital media and AI. We aim to nurture positive relationships and holistic growth through this approach,” said Vinoth Chandar, founder & CEO, ChuChu TV.
Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech