YouTube announced new parental controls on Wednesday to manage children’s and teens’ time on Shorts, amid growing international focus on minors’ online safety.
The Google-owned platform now allows parents to set timers on connected child accounts, limiting daily viewing of Shorts, which compete with TikTok videos and Instagram Reels. Parents can also block access to Shorts completely, either permanently or for specific periods, such as during study time for educational videos.
Additional options include custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders to prompt users to pause video watching. Adults can apply these same limits and reminders to their own accounts.
In the coming weeks, YouTube will update its app sign-up process to simplify switching between parent and child accounts with a few taps. These additions expand existing controls, which let parents supervise a teen’s channel if the teen creates content.
Similar features appear on other platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. Last year, YouTube introduced age-estimation technology to identify teen accounts and deliver age-appropriate experiences.
The controls aim to address concerns over excessive short-form video consumption. Parents manage settings through connected accounts, building on prior supervision tools for content creation.
