YouTube is deploying more artificial intelligence technology to capture more videos that could need age limits, meaning more users will be required to sign up to their accounts to confirm their age before they watch.
Similar to how YouTube used machine learning methods to try to better capture violent extremism and more of the platform's more serious content starting in 2017, and later to find videos that contained hateful activity, the same method would be used in this case to automatically flag YouTube videos that are not age-appropriate. As a result, YouTube expects to see even more videos come up with age-limited limits.
The organization is planning to make some labeling errors, as is the case for any roll-out of AI moderation technology. And as part of the updates, people viewing YouTube videos embedded on third-party sites will be redirected to YouTube to sign in and check their age.
One of the key issues facing producers in YouTube's Affiliate Scheme (those who are willing to monetize their videos) is whether these moderation steps would have an impact on their moneymaking ability. The YouTube team does not accept that, since most of the videos it predicts would earn automatic age limits, they are not likely to breach the company's advertiser-friendly guidelines.
Basically, according to YouTube, such videos will also have little to no advertising.
That doesn't mean that errors won't happen; they can, as many cases of wrongfully imposed trademarks and takeovers and all sorts of copyright conflicts have demonstrated in the past. Yet YouTube is packing up its appeals team to handle challenges when they come in. Another problem of the developers is that age-restricted videos would not feature on the homepage. Although age-restricted videos are less likely to appear on the homepage, age-restriction does not immediately preclude videos from appearing on the homepage, according to YouTube.
The roll-out comes as YouTube seeks to counter worldwide backlash from worried parent groups and online activist boards that are dangerous for children. YouTube's leadership regularly claims that YouTube isn't intended for those under the age of 13 due to federal privacy rights, and the organization refers to YouTube Kids as a potentially better option. But it doesn't deter young children from using the software at home or somewhere else. Many of the more common networks was designed to produce content exclusively for children. Today, YouTube's confidence and protection team is imposing limits on videos as they come across them during ratings. If it's considered unsafe for anyone under the age of 18, it's going to get an age screen.
Since our use of technologies would result in more videos becoming age-restricted, our policy team took this time to reconsider where we draw a line for age-restricted content, reads a recent YouTube blog post. After interviewing experts and comparing ourselves with other global content ranking systems, only minor adjustments were needed.
YouTube's post also notes that the new rules may require a few additional steps for people in countries within the European Union. In accordance with future rules, such as the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), certain European users could be required to provide sufficient documentation of their age.
Effectively, if programs can not check that anyone is older than 18 years of age, they can be asked to provide a valid ID or credit card to check their age, according to the post. It's a one-time operation, and YouTube is expected to erase the details after it's sent out. The procedure was developed to abide by the standards of Google's privacy and protection, YouTube says.
People can see these changes instantly, but they also take some time for the result to be visible. Even, plan to keep logged in to your YouTube account if you don't want to meet a bunch of age-restricted posts, as it appears, there will be a couple of age gates to open up.
