Calling All YouTube Creators

After the US Federal Trade Commission fined YouTube for $170 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), YouTube and content creators are required to set future and existing videos as made for kids or not.

Here’s all you need to know in order to comply with the new COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) guidelines.

1. Determine If Your YouTube Content Is Made For Kids Or Not

Regardless of your location, you are required to set future and existing videos as made for kids or not. In the United States a kid is defined as anyone under the age of 13. Depending on where you’re located, the age of a kid may be defined higher in other countries.

Here are the factors outlined by the FTC on what is considered “made for kids”:
• Subject matter of the video (e.g. educational content for preschoolers).
• Whether children are your intended or actual audience for the video.
• Whether the video includes child actors or models.
• Whether the video includes characters, celebrities, or toys that appeal to children, including animated characters or cartoon figures.
• Whether the language of the video is intended for children to understand.
• Whether the video includes activities that appeal to children, such as play-acting, simple songs or games, or early education.
• Whether the video includes songs, stories, or poems for children.
• Any other information you may have to help determine your video’s audience, like empirical evidence of the video’s audience.

If you’re still unsure whether your videos are made for kids or not, we suggest you seek legal advice.

2. Set Your Audience

To comply with COPPA set your “Audience” by signing in to YouTube Studio. On the left menu of the Studio Beta, click “Channel” and then the “Advanced Settings” tab. Under “Audience” select one of the three options and save your changes. You can set this channel-wide or per video.

If you don’t set your audience for your videos, you may get flagged through YouTube’s automated systems and action may be taken on your account. The FTC also made it clear that they may take action against channel owners who fail to comply.

By January 2020, YouTube will limit data collection on children’s videos and stop personalized ads on the videos, turn off comments and notifications. YAY for kid-friendly YouTube content!

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