YouTube's new feature restricting access to Shorts for teenagers

Speed is now a dominant feature of social networks, and with the same infinite scroll mechanism as the content posted on TikTok or Instagram's Reels, YouTube, with Shorts, has also adopted this model for years, which sees interest especially from a younger audience. And it is precisely for this reason, in order to protect the safety and experience of teenagers, that YouTube has announced the release of a new tool for parents designed to restrict their children's viewing of Shorts and prevent them from spending too much time on the platform.

"At YouTube, our approach has always been to protect teenagers in the digital world, not from it. Today, parents, in Italia and across Europe, can set the amount of time their teenage children spend on Shorts, down to zero minutes per day: a parental control never before seen in the industry," says Dr. Garth Graham, Global Head of YouTube Health, adding, "This is the latest of the tools we have developed over the past decade to foster constructive dialogue within families on how to build healthy digital habits. We will continue to strengthen safeguards for families with the support of independent experts".

The new feature, already available today, is a first in the industry as it allows parents not only to set a time limit but also to completely disable the Shorts feed of a specific supervised account. On the topic, Dr. Graham also proposed some guidelines to support families in building healthier digital habits, suggesting an approach based on dialogue, sharing and awareness. Among the central aspects emerges, for instance, the importance of regularly talking about children's online experiences but also of looking at contents together to really understand their interests and dynamics; then the definition of clear and shared rules, supported by the parental control tools offered by YouTube but without forgetting the balance between digital and offline life, finally promoting a more careful use and an invitation to guide the youngest to view quality contents that can broaden their perspectives, is fundamental.

Finally, YouTube has also simplified the procedure for those who wish to add their children to the most suitable YouTube account for their age group: in just a few steps, parents can create a supervised account for their children directly from the platform and choose the content settings deemed most suitable for them.