YouTube isn’t the only video platform grappling with surreptitiously inappropriate content that’s ostensibly intended for younger viewers.
A concerned mother named Chey Robinson spotted an image of a penis etched into a tree trunk in a scene from Netflix’s Maya The Bee cartoon, and shared her findings it in a now-deleted Facebook post. Robinson’s post subsequently spread across social media, generating shock and concern from subscribers. The penis drawing could be found in episode 35 of the first season, though Netflix has yanked the episode from its service.
“I’m extremely disgusted by it,” Robinson wrote on Facebook, per Variety, “there should be no reason my kids have to see something like this.”
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Netflix, which does not produce Maya The Bee but serve as the series’ distributor — has yet to respond to the allegations besides removing the episode in question. It remains to be seen whether Netflix will edit and reupload the episode.
The incident smacks of a similar hullabaloo earlier this year when a concerned mom noticed that her daughter was watching YouTube videos that looked like they came from popular cartoon franchises but in actuality contained disturbing content that was unsuitable for children. At the time, YouTube suggested that parents download the YouTube Kids app or enable ‘Restricted Mode’ for added security.
