YouTube decides it’s easier to treat all watchers of kids’ content as kids

Enlarge / A young child watches a laptop computer. (credit: Getty Images)

Congratulations, you're a child again! Or at least you will be one as far as YouTube is concerned any time you happen to see a video designated as being "for kids."

YouTube announced that change in a corporate blog post today, as the platform continues to try and thread a particularly tricky needle. YouTube (and the creators who use it) want to spread content as far and wide as possible, and they want to make as much money doing so as they can-but federal law limits what data companies can collect and use from the children who watch some of that content.

The changes stem from a $170 million settlement YouTube reached with the Federal Trade Commission last September over alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

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