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SALT LAKE CITY — Children are as few as three clicks away from accessing adult content while on YouTube, according to a new study.
The study, released by British digital security firm Kaspersky Lab ahead of Europe's Safer Internet Day, looked at the "related videos" on the site that come at the end of popular children's programs.
Researchers found that videos featuring violence, guns or nudity, mature TV shows, and car crash compilations, among other types of mature content, took three clicks to view, on average. They said tech-savvy children combined with YouTube's "deliberately intuitive" design mean that without parental controls, children are at risk.
"It's worrying to see just how simple it is for children to access videos of an adult nature on YouTube," said David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky. "With younger generations becoming more IT literate and parents increasingly turning to mobile devices, online games and apps as a means of entertaining their kids, these results highlight the importance of taking steps to protect them online."
Emm said using YouTube's Safety Mode is helpful, but there are other steps parents can take to keep their children from viewing questionable content:
- Visit your account page via the link at the top right of every page. Click the "History" link from within the "My Videos."
- If your history has been cleared, you can look at your child's favorites and which channels they are subscribed to.
- Supervise your children: "Encourage them to visit and stay on websites you're familiar with," Emm said. "Be sure to know about any password-protected sites they may be accessing and ask them to share their login details with you."
- Be open: Encourage your child to share what he or she is doing online and promote a culture of safety in the home.
- Protect your family: Use parental controls on sites you don't want your children to visit.
According to study, a child watching Sesame Street could be as few as two clicks away from a car crash compilation. A child watching Dora the Explorer would need four clicks to reach a music video featuring swearing and nudity.
YouTube provides its own guidelines for keeping children safe on the site. Although users have to be 13 years old to create an account, children of any age can access the site.
The site encourages parents to ask children to make playlists of their favorite videos to be viewed together and to be aware of how to access their child's viewing history.
