YouTube adjusts recs to protect teens from “repeated messages about idealized standards”

In order to protect vulnerable users, YouTube is making changes to its recommendation engine. The video platform has worked alongside its Youth and Families Advisory Committee to develop a policy that will limit teens’ and tweens’ exposure to “repeated messages about idealized standards.”

YouTube’s Advisory Committee has been active since 2018 and currently counts 12 members. The mental health experts who are counseling YouTube want the platform to be careful about the volume of dangerous ideas that are served to young, impressionable individuals.

“A higher frequency of content that idealizes unhealthy standards or behaviors can emphasize potentially problematic messages—and those messages can impact how some teens see themselves,” said clinician and researcher Allison Briscoe-Smith, who is part of the Advisory Committee. “Guardrails can help teens maintain healthy patterns as they naturally compare themselves to others and size up how they want to show up in the world.”

Content that will be affected by those guardrails will include eating disorder videos, other forms of body idolization, and content that “features social aggression.” YouTube won’t make those categories entirely off-limits to teens, but its recommendations will prevent viewership “in repetition.”

“Since the earliest days of YouTube, our have communicated what’s allowed on the platform, and work has removed content that’s not allowed,” reads a guide published by the platform. “We offer users additional layers of protection through our copyright review processes, our recommendation systems, and partnerships around the world that inform products and policies.”

Videos discussing disordered eating have been a particular point of focus for YouTube. A recent crackdown targeted content in that category that presents “imitable behaviors” to teens.

As part of its partnership with the Youth and Families Advisory Committee, YouTube has also published a series of content principles that creators can employ if they want to “nurture kids’ creativity and curiosity.” Those guidelines can be found here.