Young children watching YouTube are being lured to websites promoting violent adult content through so-called ‘trap ads’, it can be revealed.
Around one in two videos labelled as ‘Made for Kids’ feature adverts alongside them that take users to third-party websites featuring inappropriate content.
It means children watching cartoons such as Barbie and Pip and Posy can, with just one click, be taken to sites advertising 18+ content like violent videogame Grand Theft Auto.
The loophole was uncovered by Global Action Plan, which is calling on the government to amend the Online Safety Bill to strengthen restrictions on social media ads.
Young children watching YouTube are being lured to websites promoting violent adult content through so-called ‘trap ads’, it can be revealed (stock image)
Oliver Hayes, policy and campaigns lead at the charity, said: ‘No company should be making cash via the peddling of violent videogames to pre-schoolers – let alone Google, one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world.’
The research, carried out alongside digital rights group Foxglove, found trap ads were appearing next to YouTube videos labelled – either by their creators or by YouTube themselves – as ‘Made for Kids’.
The videos include cartoons on the Barbie official channel, which has nearly 11 million subscribers, and TV show Pip and Posy which follows the animated adventures of a mouse and rabbit aimed at kids aged two to five.
These adverts appear to be age appropriate – one, for example, features a children’s toy in the picture and encourages viewers to visit Zebra Tests, a gaming platform for toddlers. However, once there, many of the sites also feature a huge amount of Google ads that constantly pop up.
These include adverts for violent video games such as Granny, a survival horror video game in which a corpse chases the player around the house with a blood-covered bat, and Grand Theft Auto which is aimed at adults and features swearing, crime, drugs and sex.
Global Action Plan said YouTube was ‘potentially exposing millions of young children to inappropriate and harmful content’.
Global Action Plan said YouTube was ‘potentially exposing millions of young children to inappropriate and harmful content’ (stock image)
Mr Hayes urged Google to ‘immediately close’ the loophole and ban third party links from adverts on ‘Made for Kids’ content.
The charity is calling on the UK Government to amend the Online Safety Bill to ban surveillance advertising to under-18s, and for social media companies to limit ads to 10 per cent of what people see in their feeds.
YouTube said it limited data collection and did not serve personalised ads on its ‘Made for Kids’ content as it treated any viewers, regardless of age, as a child.
A spokesperson said: ‘Protecting our youngest users is a priority for us and we continue to engage with parents, governments, industry leaders and experts to ensure YouTube is a safe platform.’