US lawmakers call YouTube Kids a ‘vapid, consumerist’ wasteland

In a letter sent Tuesday to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, the United States House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy said YouTube does not do enough to protect kids from material that could harm them.

A United States House subcommittee is investigating YouTube Kids, saying the Google-owned video service feeds children inappropriate material in “a wasteland of vapid, consumerist content” so it can serve them ads. The inquiry comes despite Google agreeing to pay $170m in 2019 to settle allegations that YouTube collected personal data on children without their parents’ consent. In a letter sent Tuesday to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, the US House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy said YouTube does not do enough to protect kids from material that could harm them. Instead, it relies on artificial intelligence and creators’ self-regulation to decide what videos make it on to the platform, according to the letter.