Building for families in the Middle East and North Africa with new kid accounts

YouTube’s new supervised kid accounts come with built-in protections & parental controls

For over 20 years, families in the Middle East, North Africa have used YouTube to watch what they love and learn — everything from studying a foreign language to discovering new hobbies — with 95% of viewers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE agreeing YouTube has top content in education and learning.

Today, we’re taking our next step in age appropriate experiences, introducing supervised kid accounts. The accounts allow young people to navigate their imagination and curiosity on YouTube with their safety, privacy and wellbeing at the forefront. They are easy to set up from the ‘Family Center’ in YouTube settings.

Controls that empower parents

We know that each family, and each child, is different. Supervised kid accounts put parents in the driver’s seat: offering an optional specialised, age appropriate environment for parents who feel their child is ready to explore more of YouTube, within the main app itself.

Kid accounts come with three content settings for parents to choose from, each broadly aligned with international content ratings.

These accounts also come with easy-to-use tools that let parents make the best choice for their families. That includes our industry-first Shorts feed timer, which allows parents to set daily time limits for scrolling the Shorts feed - including the ability to turn it off completely.

In-built additional protections

Supervised kid accounts also come with built-in protections that are set by default for all users under 18. These include “Take a Break” and “Bedtime” reminders, to encourage mindful viewing; no ability to create content or write comments; and no personalized ad targeting. Autoplay is not on by default.

The kid accounts launched today join supervised teen accounts, which are already available to parents across the region. Teen accounts are a voluntary experience that allow young people to explore most of YouTube, while facilitating open conversations with parents through account linking; timely email notifications; and shared insights into channel activity. YouTube Kids, for younger children, is also available - offering a ‘walled garden’ in the form of a standalone app with stricter content filtering, parental controls and the ability to show approved content only.

Protecting young people in the digital world, not from it

Young people and their families use YouTube as a place to learn and explore their passions. The region boasts exceptional educational channels, from Science Street to Droos Online, which includes English language courses and academic study guidance.

Supervised kid accounts are the latest in our commitment to our youngest users. We recognise the important part we play in young people’s lives, and their safety, privacy and wellbeing are at the forefront of everything we do. For years, guided by independent child development specialists, we’ve built age-appropriate experiences to protect kids in the digital world, not from it.

How to Set Up a supervised kid account from your Android

• Step 1: Sign into the YouTube app using your Google account
• Step 2: Navigate to the Family Center option, under Settings
• Step 3: Choose “Add a kid account” and follow the steps provided

How to Set Up a supervised kid account from your desktop

• Step 1: Sign into the YouTube on your computer
• Step 2: Click your profile picture, then Settings.
• Step 3: Scroll down to “Family Center” and click “Manage kids profiles and features for teens”.