The YouTube for Kids app was a major change in the video market. This app simplified the YouTube interface in a way that would allow kids to easily access their favorite videos and channels. It also received a lot of praise from tech outlets and parents. But some child advocacy groups are worried that the system will be used to send unwanted ads to children.
These advocacy groups are accusing YouTube, and its owner Google, of "mixing commercial content with children's video programming using practices banned on broadcast and cable television by another agency, the Federal Communications Commission," Mercury News reported.
"This is the opening shot in a new battle with Google, Nickelodeon, Amazon, Netflix, Cartoon Network and others that are trying to cash in on this generation of young children," said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "It's a battle for the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of America's kids in the digital age."
The rules that the advocacy groups are accusing YouTube of breaking were established in the 1970s, after research came out arguing that kids were unable to realize the difference between advertisements and original programming.
"They deliberately ignored the well-documented research on children's developmental limitations when it comes to advertising and programming," Chester told Mercury News.
Google denies these claims of ignoring research and data: "When developing YouTube Kids we consulted with numerous partners and child advocacy and privacy groups. We are always open to feedback on ways to improve the app," a spokesman told Mercury News.
The coalition of advocacy groups asked YouTube to pull all ads from the service (even though those ads are what made the service free) as well as pulling all "unboxing videos" from the YouTube for Kids app.
While some advocates are up in arms about this, others think that they're overreacting: "I like {Youtube for Kids} a lot and it's free, so if it's free, something's got to pay for it," said Parry Aftab, the executive director of Virginia-based WiredSafety. "We are the United States. We are an ad-driven nation."
The coalition of advocacy groups include the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Consumer Federation of America, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Children Now, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Consumer Watchdog, Corporate Accountability International, Public Citizen and the Center for Digital Democracy, and the Consumer's Union.
