Children at High Risk of Accessing Adult Content on YouTube
ABINGDON, England, February 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Children at High Risk of Accessing Adult Content on YouTube
Children can be as little as three clicks away from inappropriate or adult content on YouTube, warns Kaspersky Lab ahead of Safer Internet Day (SID) on 5th February. SID aims to highlight the rights and responsibilities of young people online and educate them on the need to discover the digital world safely.
Examining YouTube's 'suggested' videos which sit visibly alongside clips or episodes of popular children's television programmes such as Peppa Pig, Rastamouse and Dora the Explorer, researchers found that, on average, users are just three clicks away from content better suited to a more mature audience.
Music videos featuring violence, guns and nudity, clips of post watershed television programmes and car crash compilations are some examples of the inappropriate content just a few clicks away on the video sharing website. These results highlight the potential risks such sites pose if parental controls are not activated or children are left unattended while browsing.
With technology being such an everyday commodity, kids are becoming more and more tech savvy about the Internet and exploring its contents. Video content sites such as YouTube are deliberately intuitive which makes their content easily accessible, but does not always display content suitable for children's eyes.
Mother of two young boys Angela Woodward comments, "As the parent of a five-year-old boy with a keen interest in Fireman Sam and Power Rangers, this is an issue I'm really concerned about. Although I'm careful to monitor Sam's activity when he goes online, in the past he's been able to click through to things that aren't suitable for his age. Now that he's at school and his spelling and writing are getting better I'm afraid this problem will only get worse."
David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, comments, "It's worrying to see just how simple it is for children to access videos of an adult nature on YouTube. With younger generations becoming more IT literate and parents increasingly turning to mobile devices, online games and apps as a means of entertaining their kids, these results highlight the importance of taking steps to protect them online. Safer Internet Day is all about educating and promoting safer, more responsible behaviour for young people, but adults must take responsibility too. Having parental controls in place is vital and can be highly effective in combatting objectionable material. YouTube's Safety Mode feature aims to help parents screen out unsuitable content, but it can't provide 100% protection."
David's tips for protecting your family online are:
- Supervision - This may seem obvious, but supervise your child's Internet use. Encourage them to visit and stay on websites you're familiar with. If you have any concerns you can look at their browsing history. Be sure to know about any password protected sites they may be accessing and ask them to share their login details with you.
- Be open - Encourage your child to be open about what they are doing online and who they are socialising with. Promote a culture of safety within the home and talk about the possible dangers which exist.
- Protect your family - Use parental control on sites you don't want your child looking at as part of your online security product - it's an easy way to avoid disaster.
About David Emm:
David Emm - an Internet safety veteran, works as a Senior Security Researcher with the Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab, a leading anti-virus software provider. What David doesn't know about online security is not worth knowing and he is passionate about sharing his knowledge with others. David writes articles and white papers, provides media comment on the latest malware issues and delivers presentations and training on malware-related matters. He has worked at Kaspersky Lab for nine years and has worked in the security industry for more than 22 years. Prior to joining Kaspersky Lab, David worked at McAfee and Dr Solomon's Software.
Examples of searched terms:
Search term Result
Rastamouse 2 clicks away from music video featuring swearing and
guns
Fireman Sam 2 clicks away from episode of London's Burning
Lazy Town 2 clicks away from Supersize Me documentary
Sesame Street 2 clicks away from accident video and footage of a woman
giving birth
Peppa pig 4 clicks away from car crash compilation
Dora the Explorer 4 clicks away from music video featuring swearing and
nudity
Kaspersky Lab Newsroom
Kaspersky Lab has launched a new online newsroom, Kaspersky Lab Newsroom Europe (http://newsroom.kaspersky.eu/en), for journalists throughout Europe. The newsroom is specifically designed to serve many of the media's most common requests, making it easier for journalists to find product and corporate information, facts and figures, editorial copy, images, videos and audio files, as well as details about the appropriate PR contacts.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world's top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs and Enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at http://www.kaspersky.co.uk. For the latest on antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and other IT security issues and trends, visit: http://www.securelist.com/.
*The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2010. The rating was published in the IDC report Worldwide IT Security Products 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares - December 2011. The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2010.
Follow us on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/kasperskyuk
Like us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/Kaspersky
© 2013 Kaspersky Lab. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for Kaspersky Lab products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Kaspersky Lab shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
Editorial contact:
Berkeley PR
Ella Thompson
kasperskylab@berkeleypr.co.uk
Telephone: +44(0)118-909-0909
1650 Arlington Business Park
RG7 4SA, Reading
Kaspersky Lab UK
Ruth Knowles
Ruth.Knowles@kasperskylab.co.uk
Telephone: +44(0)871-789-1633
Milton Business Park
OX14 4RY, Oxford
Share this article