13+
Minimum age according to YouTube
This is YouTube’s minimum age. What do you think is the right age for this site?Share your thoughts
YouTube allows you to watch, create and comment on videos. You can create your own YouTube account, create a music playlist, and even create your own channel, which means you will have a public profile. YouTube allows live streaming.
What do I need to know about YouTube?
We've spoken to parents to find out what they think about YouTube. We've also asked children and young people what they think. Here's what they said:
What do children and young people say to look out for:
26% of the children and young people who reviewed YouTube thought that it can be risky. Key things they mentioned were:
Why young people like it:
The main things that young people told us they liked about this site were:
We asked parents whether they were asked to verify their phone number or email address to sign up to this site. We also asked them how easy or difficult it would be for a child to pretend to be older to sign up.
Parents say:
We asked parents how easy it was to find out how to report unsuitable content, to find out if the site is moderated, to block other users and to hide or report an unwanted message or picture.
Parents say:
Young people say:
More information:
We asked parents how easy it was to find information about privacy and to change the settings to ensure the account is private.
Parents say:
Young people say:
More information:
Visit YouTube’s privacy page here.
We asked parents how easy it was to find out whether this site has rules or community standards, to find safety information for children and parents, and to find links to support services.
Parents say:
More information:
Visit the safety pages here and here.
Visit the pages for parents here.
Visit the teens pages here.
This site allows live streaming. Find out more about live streaming here.
Boy, 13
“It’s a fun way to watch entertainment but until someone flags something as inappropriate it’s out there for people to see.”
Girl, 14
“YouTube has many safety features for users, such as blocking access to adult content to users without proof of age. However, users are sometimes abusive of their so-called "anonymity" and use it to harass other users.”
Girl, 13
“I like the community, making videos, watching gaming videos, becoming fans of youtubers, become famous, awesome opportunities.”
Mother
“Please be aware that this site is not just for children and that some other very inappropriate people can be on this site. Make your child aware. Talk to your child. Be open with them. Encourage they are able to talk to you in return.” - Mother of 13yr old boy
Mother
"Using a log-in can help restrict what your child can view as it's easier to set parental controls. Always keep an open dialogue about what your child is viewing. Make sure your child fully understands what they are doing before allowing them to post videos on YouTube.” - Mother of two girls
Mother
“It seems people just do whatever they see fit themselves on YouTube. There is a lot of useful information and entertaining videos on there shared by a wide community, however, it is difficult to govern all the contents.” - Mother of boys aged 6 and 9
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YouTube
"YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers. YouTube is a Google company."
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O2 Guru Rosa says:
“YouTube has a handy function that means you can restrict content based on age restrictions and community flagging. This prevents any surprises coming up on your YouTube feed. Simply click on 'Restricted Mode On/Off' to manage your preferences which is either in 'Settings' on an app or down the bottom of the page on a desktop version.”
Our O2 NSPCC Online Safety Helpline can help you to set up parental controls, adjust privacy settings or get advice on social networks. Call them for free on 0808 800 5002.
You can also book a free in-store appointment with an O2 online safety guru here.
13+
YouTube says
This is taken from YouTube’s own guidelines and is accurate as of March 2017.
12+
Our panel of parents say
Based on our independent panel of nearly 700 parents, surveyed through YouGov in January 2017.
9+
Children say
Based on 1,696 responses from children and young people in December 2016 and January 2017.
10+
Net Aware visitors say
Based on 2406 votes from visitors to the Net Aware site – you can vote too.
We asked young people and parents to tell us about the content they came across on YouTube. Here are the types of inappropriate content that they reported:
Sexual
Violence and hatred
Bullying
Suicide and self-harm
Other
44% of parents reported seeing either violence and hatred or sexual content on YouTube.
49% of young people reported seeing violence and hatred on YouTube. 31% reported either bullying or adult or illegal content, which could include alcohol, gambling, swearing or drugs.
Mother
“An advert of a game including decapitation played before a video labelled at 4+.” - Mother of boys aged 6 and 9
Father
“I saw a few girls bullying (violently) a single female whilst being recorded by another party on their mobile phone.” - Father of girls aged 11 and 17
Father
“When I accidentally typed something weird in some sexual items popped up. It was there in my history for a long time.” - Father of girls aged 3 and 10
Boy
“YouTube can be safe if the right settings are selected. If not it can lead to very inappropriate content and can be very unpleasant.”
Girl
“It is easy to spread negativity and people are able to comment whatever they like which could potentially upset some people.”
Girl,13
“People can post racist or hurtful things which might encourage them to do things that are not safe.”
We know it can be awkward but no amount of information beats talking to your children about their experiences online.
I know you love going online, which bits do you like best?Other relevant resources:
Tumblr
Tumblr is a social networking site that lets you share text, photos, quotes, links, audio clips, slideshows and videos and live broadcasts.
Steam
Steam is an entertainment platform which lets you play games, create your own in-game content, broadcast live videos and chat to other members of the community.
Live.ly
Live.ly is a live video streaming app that allows you to broadcast videos in real time to your friends or other Live.ly users.
Facebook and Messenger
Facebook is a social network which lets you create a page about yourself. Facebook Messenger allows you to instant message in group chats or one to one.
See all
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