Google’s family-friendly YouTube Kids app has been hit with a second complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, this time accusing it of containing inappropriate content, including sexually-explicit language and “jokes about pedophilia.” This follows a complaint last month that the app was “deceptive to children” in the way it mixed ads into the programming.
The WSJ reports that the complaint was sent by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy.
Examples of what the non-profit groups found include: explicit sexual language in cartoons; jokes about pedophilia and drug use; activities such as juggling knives, tasting battery acid, and making a noose; and adult discussions about family violence, pornography, and child suicide.
The group created a video (below) illustrating the inappropriate content found …
Much of the content appears to have been pulled from just a handful of videos. Some of it contains mildly NSFW language, while other content is factual discussion of child safety issues aimed at adult rather than child audiences.
[vimeo 127837914 w=1000 h=563]
The FTC confirmed to the WSJ that it has received the complaint, while Google said that it provided tools for flagging inappropriate videos and took feedback very seriously.
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