
The PTC commends YouTube and Amazon for adding additional parental controls to their technology platforms in order to help protect children from harmful media content.
YouTube announced that it will give parents the ability to choose every video and channel on its YouTube Kids app. Amazon will give parents more control over its Echo speaker through its FreeTime setting. The Parents Television Council appreciates their decisions.
“We applaud every positive step that hardware companies, software companies, and media distributors take to help parents protect their children from age-inappropriate content. Both YouTube and Amazon are making positive steps in the right direction,” said PTC President Tim Winter.
“Despite these positive steps, we are troubled by any marketing efforts to get small children hooked into using electronic media sooner than the health experts advise. By making the platforms ‘safer’ for younger children, tech companies are getting children hooked on digital media platforms at earlier ages. Are we creating digital media addicts by starting them at earlier ages? We have heard reports that children in school are staying at their desks during recess to check their social media accounts, instead of going outside to play. This should be very concerning to every American.
“And no matter what the tech companies do to help parents, there is a huge underlying concern about data mining and privacy matters, particularly as it concerns marketing technology as a whole and age-inappropriate content to children.
“Parents should be proactive in their involvement with their children’s media consumption, and we recommend that they utilize these new parental control tools. But this must not be the end of the road for parental safeguards. Tech companies must continue developing ever-better protective measures, and they must not place an added financial burden on parents when it comes to implementing the protective measures.”