We're extending our existing built-in protections to more US teens on YouTube, using machine learning age estimation.
People come to YouTube to learn and be entertained. This is true even for the youngest audiences, and it's why we remain laser focused on making sure they have a safe and age appropriate experience. Over 10 years ago we launched
YouTube Kids, and 4 years ago implemented supervised accounts for
pre-teens and
teens.
Back in February, we
shared that we would soon introduce technology that would distinguish between younger viewers and adults to help provide the best and most age appropriate experiences and protections. Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin to roll out machine learning to a small set of users in the US to estimate their age, so that teens are treated as teens and adults as adults. We’ll closely monitor this before we roll it out more widely. This technology will allow us to infer a user’s age and then use that signal, regardless of the birthday in the account, to deliver our age-appropriate product experiences and protections. We’ve used this approach in other markets for some time, where it is working well. We are now bringing it to the US, and as we make progress we’ll roll it out in other markets. We will closely monitor the user experience, and partner with Creators to ensure that the entire ecosystem benefits from this update.
Here’s how it works
We will use AI to interpret a variety of signals that help us to determine whether a user is over or under 18. These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account.
When the system identifies a teen user, we’ll automatically apply our age-appropriate experiences and protections, including:
- disabling personalized advertising
- turning on digital wellbeing tools
- adding safeguards to recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content
If the system incorrectly estimates a user to be under 18, they will have the option to verify that they are 18 or over, such as using a credit card or a government ID. We will only allow users who have been inferred or verified as over 18 to view age-restricted content that may be inappropriate for younger users.
Our continuing work to support kids, teens and families
YouTube was one of the first platforms to offer experiences designed specifically for young people, and we’re proud to again be at the forefront of introducing technology that allows us to deliver safety protections while preserving teen privacy. Families trust YouTube to provide a safe and enriching experience, and we’ll continue to invest to protect their ability to explore safely online.
