Some of the changes under consideration include preventing videos from automatically playing after the previous one finishes, the person said. Another concept, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, proposes moving children's videos off of YouTube and into YouTube Kids, a standalone app that more tightly limits the content it allows. But that would be a drastic step and is unlikely to occur, the person said, and no decisions have been made.
YouTube is also in the late stages of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission concerning its handling of children's videos, according to a report Wednesday by The Washington Post, citing four people familiar with the matter. YouTube declined to comment on the report. At Google, YouTube has found itself in the crosshairs amid concerns that the platform's video-recommendation software directs viewers toward violent, disturbing or conspiratorial content. Users, including children, may start viewing safe content and then be led to less appropriate videos that have been optimized for YouTube's algorithm. There are videos on YouTube of familiar children's cartoon characters in dangerous or unsettling scenarios.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, defended YouTube's recommendation algorithm in a recent interview with CNN.