More Graphic Stranger Things Points to Concerns with Streaming

The popular Netflix show has returned -- with more adult content. Netflix recently released the second season of its series Stranger Things. The internet drama, about a group of teenagers in the 1980s encountering the supernatural, is wildly popular, particularly with teenage viewers; but according to data based on its exclusive filtering technology, video filtering company VidAngel says season two of the streaming program contains a significant increase in mature content over season one. This points to a wider concern: that streaming programs continue to be unsafe for kids, as shown in the PTC’s recent study of streaming services Over-the-Top or a Race to the Bottom: A Parent’s Guide to Streaming Video. That study showed that children have easy access to adult content, in part, because the parental controls are lax or non-existent on the leading streaming video platforms. (The study also graded parental controls and the availability of child- or family-appropriate programming on the most popular streaming devices and services.) Ever-more families are “cutting the cord” and abandoning cable TV for streaming. This makes the dearth of parental controls, accurate ratings, and programming options safe for children on streaming services something about which parents should be concerned.