Source: YouTube releasing new version of YouTube Kids within coming weeks with option to turn off algorithmic video suggestions and only show curated channels
And for Profits? Tom McKay / Gizmodo : YouTube Kids Will Finally Offer a Mode Where Actual Humans Actually Bother to Vet the Videos Ben Schoon / 9to5Google : Upcoming YouTube Kids version may ditch recommendation algorithms for whitelisted, handpicked content Nick Statt / The Verge : YouTube will reportedly release a kids' app curated by humans Carl Velasco / Tech Times : YouTube Is Releasing A Kids App With Better Algorithm So Your Children Can Avoid Graphic Content Adam Rosenberg / Mashable : A new YouTube Kids app will use human curators to protect your young ones Adam Westlake / SlashGear : YouTube Kids app update said to allow only human-curated content Katie Canales / Business Insider : YouTube Kids is reportedly releasing a version that swaps out the algorithm for actual humans Tweets: Raheel Khursheed / @raheelk : ‘Algorithms will take over the world.’ http://twitter.com/... Patrick Beja / @notpatrick : This is significant; I think the industry is starting to realize & admit that algorithmic selection isn't always desirable. I suspect we'll see more of these going forward. Not that algorithms are going away, but a mix. Yahoo must be rolling in its grave. http://www.buzzfeed.com/... James Cook / @jamesliamcook : YouTube is reportedly going to release a whitelisted, non-algorithmic version of its YouTube Kids app, less than a month after my story on the insane conspiracy theory videos on the current app http://www.buzzfeed.com/... Jillian D'Onfro / @jillianiles : Looks like YT might be ready to give parents what they've been begging for: a white-listed, non-algorithmic version of its Kids app http://www.buzzfeed.com/... Thanks: @kantrowitz See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
YouTube Kids launched in February 2015 as a simplified, parent-controlled alternative to the main app (parental controls and a simplified UI), but its recommendation engine kept surfacing disturbing videos, making 'algorithmic suggestions' the product's core liability.
The reported fix inverts the original design: instead of tuning the algorithm, YouTube will let parents switch it off entirely and serve only channels humans have vetted. It is an admission that for young children, curation beats inference — a position critics like Variety would later argue should extend further.
First-order effects
- Parents gain a direct toggle between algorithmic feeds and a whitelist of curated channels, giving them control over the single most criticized part of the app without leaving YouTube's ecosystem.
- YouTube effectively concedes that its recommendation system cannot be trusted unsupervised on children's profiles, shifting the burden of safety from engineering to editorial.
Second-order effects
- Established kids' brands and channels that can pass human vetting become the default supply inside the curated mode, squeezing out the long tail of low-quality or borderline content the algorithm previously surfaced.
- Once curation exists as a mode, the logical next step — which sources say YouTube was weighing by mid-2019 — is moving all children's content into the Kids app and turning off autoplay on the main service (far-reaching changes under consideration), a move Variety warned risks replicating existing problems unless curation is properly resourced (the counterargument).
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, children's video splits into two regimes: human-vetted walled gardens for kids and algorithmic feeds for everyone else, making editorial staffing a compliance cost rather than a product luxury.
- The move sets a template other recommendation-driven platforms may be pushed toward by parents and regulators alike — proving that 'turn off the algorithm' is a viable consumer demand, not just a critic's talking point.
The trend: Consumer-facing recommendation systems are being forced to offer human-curated alternatives wherever their audiences are deemed too vulnerable for algorithmic feeds, with children's media as the leading edge.