YouTube

What it is

YouTube is where a lot of childhood actually happens now: hobbies, homework help, creators they feel they know, and a recommendation feed that keeps playing. YouTube Kids is a different, smaller product. The main YouTube app is not a children's app with a colourful icon.

Comments, live chat, and links in descriptions are where contact with strangers happens. Autoplay can walk a child from a harmless video into something frightening or sexual without a new search.

What to look out for

• Autoplay running through videos you did not choose.
• Comments and live chat turned on.
• A channel of their own that shows their face, school, or real name.
• "How to hide apps", "how to get around the filter", or similar searches.
• Creators they talk about as if they were friends in the room.

Ways to stay safe

These steps are for YouTube. The house rules still apply on every app.

• Use a supervised Google account for children, with content settings that match their age.
• Turn off autoplay.
• Look at watch history with them once a week. Treat it as a conversation, not a trial.
• Disable comments on any channel they run, and do not let the channel use their full name.
• YouTube Kids can be a better fit for younger children. Say clearly that the main app is a different place.

In the news

Published reports you can read yourself. A headline is the proof, not a set of instructions, and this page does not repeat graphic detail.

• Overhaul algorithms and age checks or face fines, tech firms told BBC News · 2025 Ofcom’s children’s code. Sites must filter harmful recommendations and use real age checks.
• TikTok and YouTube 'not safe enough' for kids, says Ofcom BBC News · 2025 Ofcom said the feeds were still not safe enough for children.

A way to start the conversation

Ask which creator they would invite to dinner, and what that person knows about them. Fans often feel known by someone who does not know they exist.

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