If you have uploaded a video to YouTube in the last few months, you may have noticed a new required field? "Is this video for kids?" You may fall into an endless pit of wondering...well, no I didn't create this content for children, but I might not want to restrict my content from being viewed by them.
What's COPPA?
The reason behind your newest content regulation dilemma is COPPA or the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. This bill was passed way back in 1998. I was 5 at the time. Just like scrunchies and jelly sandals, COPPA is one of those things that keeps coming back into relevance for some reason.
If you're aware of COPPA at all, it probably is due to the fact that YouTube and it's mama bear, Google took action in response to a lawsuit filed against them. The lawsuit alleged that the Googs violated the 22-year-old law and illegally collected personal information of children under 13 without gaining parental consent.
To mitigate a full-blown crisis, YouTube implemented a required field when content-creators upload videos. Creators are now required to designate whether their videos are created for children.
Is Your Video Hip With The Kids?
If you are confused about designating your videos, the rule of thumb is to say no. The impact of the new regulation is to eliminate the kinds of content freely available to children under 13 on YouTube and to restrict the data collected from those users.
The FTC has supplied the following list of factors to consider when restricting your videos:
- the subject matter,
- visual content,
- the use of animated characters or child-oriented activities and incentives,
- the kind of music or other audio content,
- the age of models,
- the presence of child celebrities or celebrities who appeal to children,
- language or other characteristics of the site,
- whether advertising that promotes or appears on the site is directed to children, and
- competent and reliable empirical evidence about the age of the audience.
Chances are, your content is not targeted toward children under 13. There was a small-ish uproar when YouTube first enacted these restrictions from an even smaller group of content creators concerned about their video views.
However, COPPA is in place to protect children's privacy. Having platforms in place that consider the safety and privacy of children is a positive outcome despite the marginal possibility it may have a negative impact on video ad impressions or video views.
