Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- Google announced today that it will start using machine learning for YouTube age verification.
- The system will examine what you watch and do on the platform and try to determine whether you are a child or an adult.
- This will thwart users who lie about their age to influence the algorithm or bypass age restrictions.
Like the wider internet, YouTube can be a dangerous place for children due to it being a platform where child predators can congregate. Back in 2019, for example, YouTube got stuck in a scandal as it was discovered that its algorithm could push questionable material towards people who had previously watched videos featuring children. There was also evidence that child predators were using timestamps and video comments to find and share borderline Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
Likewise, YouTube also has a lot of content that minors probably should not see — even if they want to. This results in children pretending to be over the age of 18 in order to see that content.