# Children's Safety on YouTube: A Systematic Review
###### Abstract  
_Background_: With digital transformation and growing social media usage, kids spend considerable time on the web, especially watching videos on YouTube. YouTube is a source of education and entertainment media that has a significant impact on the skill improvement, knowledge, and attitudes of children. Simultaneously, harmful and inappropriate video content has a negative impact. Recently, researchers have given much attention to these issues, which are considered important for individuals and society. The proposed methods and approaches are to limit or prevent such threats that may negatively influence kids. These can be categorized into five main directions. They are video rating, parental control applications, analysis meta-data of videos, video or audio content, and analysis of user accounts. _Objective_: The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the existing methods, techniques, tools, and approaches that are used to protect kids and prevent them from accessing inappropriate content on YouTube videos. _Methods_: This study conducts a systematic review of research papers that were published between January 2016 and December 2022 in international journals and international conferences, especially in IEEE Xplore Digital Library, ACM Digital Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Springer database, and ScienceDirect database. _Results_: The total number of collected articles was 435. The selection and filtration process reduced this to 72 research articles that were appropriate and related to the objective. In addition, the outcome answers three main identified research questions. _Significance_: This can be beneficial to data mining, cybersecurity researchers, and peoples' concerns about children's cybersecurity and safety. YouTube; kids' digital safety; social networks; inappropriate content; machine learning; deep learning +
Footnote †: journal: _Sciences_  
to access inappropriate content that may be psychologically, intellectually, or emotionally harmful and unsafe [9]. YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms and was created in 2005. Millions of users who upload, watch, share, and comment on videos use it and display recorded educational videos or stories [10; 11; 12]. Kids and teenagers mostly use it as an alternative to traditional TV or entertainment methods. In this regard, digital spaces are consuming large amounts of time for kids. Kids can access a diverse range of YouTube channels through many types of devices, such as tablets, smart TVs, mobile phones, laptops, and desktops [13]. Because many YouTube channels are created to attract kids, the relationship between children and digital media is swiftly growing. According to Statista [14], in 2022, 2.6 billion viewers were on YouTube. Monthly, 70% of this figure access YouTube through mobile phones. Based on recent research in 2022, 65% of kids spend their browsing time on YouTube. Eighty percent of parents in the USA have stated that their kids watch YouTube. It can positively or negatively impact the learning of children at an early age. YouTubers/influencers and companies create hundreds of YouTube channels that target kids. These channels can be beneficial for kids if used for educational or entertainment purposes. At the same time, it can be risky if these channels contain disturbing or inappropriate content for kids that can impact their knowledge, attitude, and foundational and development skills [15]. Therefore, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) highlighted the requirement to protect children under 13 years for the online community of kids' digital safety. In addition, for that purpose, in 2015, Google introduced YouTube Kids [16]. It can be used to filter YouTube videos based on the appropriateness of kids' age through the analysis of meta-data or suggestions from user reports. On YouTube Kids, children can watch videos from trusted, family-friendly channels, and parents can trust them without any supervision.