Technology and internet have experienced massive growth in the last few years, this is due to the increased efficiency, usefulness and accuracy that technology provides. Individuals and companies all over the world are now more dependent on technology and the internet than they ever were. The increase in the use of technology over the past few years has not only revolutionized the world and the economy but has also changed our day to day lives. It has not only blended itself with the daily life but has started becoming it. The ever flourishing technology and its related products surely help humans to progress however, technology and the internet does come with a list of disadvantages. One of the most primary disadvantage the use of technology and internet carries with itself is the harm that abusers using technological devices can do to other users and specially children’s. With technological devices and internet based platforms being increasingly common, it is easy for children’s using these platforms to be exposed to stuff that is not suitable for them to see and can possibly leave a negative impact on them.
These days, all kinds of predators exist on social media platforms, they upload and share different offensive posts such as one’s on women objectification and child abuse which surely is not suitable for children’s to view. Child predators also use different ways to communicate and reach children on different social platforms and sexually harass them. Platforms where these sexual predators are active are aware of them, recently a report highlighted, in 2020 over 20 million child abuse images surfaced on Facebook alone and 560K on Google products, and it's just a fraction of predators out there, if you could somehow find the complete stats, the numbers would be even more scarier. This certainly means that the internet and social platforms can sometimes be a dangerous place for children’s, if not handled properly.
Different tech companies have started to bring out updates that make the internet and technology a safe place for children’s. Google is amongst the companies that have been working on updates that make its products safer for children’s. Recently the company has brought about some changes in its ad targeting for minors and has also made YouTube to adjust to default settings if the user is under 13.
With the announcement of ending targeted ads for ages under 18, advertisers on Google not able to target users below the age of 18 based on interests, age or gender. Apart from that users below the age of 18, will also be given the option to remove their image from Google image tab.
Apart from removing the option to target under 18 users, Google also made some changes in its infamous video platform ‘YouTube’. The company has announced that under 13 users on YouTube will have their settings turned to default, moreover any video uploaded by them will automatically be turned to private. Apart from that YouTube has also turned off the ‘auto play’ feature for users under 18 since it does carry potential danger of minors getting to a video that affect them negatively.
While these updates by Google surely look a little to suffocating, however they are in the best interest for the safety of minors. If technology giants like Google continues to bring out updates like these, the internet will surely turn into a safe space for children’s.
Read next: YouTube tests a new option that enables users to skip chapters (both forward and backward) in the video easily, just by using two-finger double-tap
Different tech companies have started to bring out updates that make the internet and technology a safe place for children’s. Google is amongst the companies that have been working on updates that make its products safer for children’s. Recently the company has brought about some changes in its ad targeting for minors and has also made YouTube to adjust to default settings if the user is under 13.
With the announcement of ending targeted ads for ages under 18, advertisers on Google not able to target users below the age of 18 based on interests, age or gender. Apart from that users below the age of 18, will also be given the option to remove their image from Google image tab.
Apart from removing the option to target under 18 users, Google also made some changes in its infamous video platform ‘YouTube’. The company has announced that under 13 users on YouTube will have their settings turned to default, moreover any video uploaded by them will automatically be turned to private. Apart from that YouTube has also turned off the ‘auto play’ feature for users under 18 since it does carry potential danger of minors getting to a video that affect them negatively.
While these updates by Google surely look a little to suffocating, however they are in the best interest for the safety of minors. If technology giants like Google continues to bring out updates like these, the internet will surely turn into a safe space for children’s.
Read next: YouTube tests a new option that enables users to skip chapters (both forward and backward) in the video easily, just by using two-finger double-tap
