San Francisco: YouTube has introduced artificial intelligence to help determine whether users are really adults or minors who present themselves as an adult on the popular platform for sharing videos.
The move that strives to prevent children from sneaking past the age controls is part of efforts to prevent minor children from having access to material intended for an older audience.
The new security is rolled out in the United States as Google ownership YouTube and social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok are examined to protect children against content aimed at adults.
A version of AI that is called Machine Learning will be used to estimate the age of users based on various factors, including the types of videos that are viewed and account a long service life, according to YouTube Youth Director of Product Management James Berer.
“With this technology we can distract the age of a user and then use that signal, regardless of the birthday in the account, to offer our age -oriented producer experiences and protection,” Berer said.
“We have been using this approach in other markets for quite some time, where it works well.”
The age model improves the technology that is already present to distract user age, according to YouTube.
Users are informed whether YouTube believes that they are minors, which gives them the option to verify their age with a credit card, selfie or government ID, according to the technology company.
Social media platforms are regularly accused of not protecting the well -being of children.
Australia will soon use its historical social media laws to ban children under the age of 16 from YouTube, a top minister said at the end of last month, and emphasized the need to protect them against ‘predatory algorithms’.
Communication Minister Anika Wells said that four in ten Australian children had reported harmful content on YouTube, one of the most visited websites in the world.
Australia announced last year that the laws set up those children of social media sites such as Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram until they turn 16.
“Our position remains clear: YouTube is a platform for sharing videos with a library with free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens,” the company said in a statement at the time.
“They are not social media.”
On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world.
It must take effect on December 10.
The legislation is closely monitored by other countries, where many weighs or similar prohibitions must be implemented.
