Youtube: Popular video streaming platform YouTube announced on 14th January that it will allow parents to set time limits or entirely block their kids from watching Shorts. This step by the platform is to ramp up parental controls on its platform.
Parents Control over YouTube Shorts
Parents will now be allowed to set viewing limits ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours. The parents will also soon be able to set the timer to zero. This feature is built on the time limit features that the streaming platform introduced in October 2025. However, the kids will not be able to change or disable these settings.
Jennifer Flannery O’Connor, the Vice President-Product Management of YouTube stated that “This is an industry-first feature that puts parents firmly in control of the amount of short-form content their kids watch. This also gives parents flexibility,”
.@youtube is where teens come to watch what they love.
Over the last decade, we’ve been focused on building tailored products for our youngest viewers.
Today we’re sharing a few updates to help parents tailor their family’s YouTube experience, especially for teens. They’ll… pic.twitter.com/UTYEYmRX47
— Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) January 14, 2026
Parents can also set custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminder; this feature is already available for adults, the company further claimed.
These updates come as social media and video streaming platforms after they are facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators globally over the digital safety of kids and teens.
Google-owned YouTube stated that in upcoming weeks they will also introduce an improved sign-up experience that allows parents to create a new kid account and easily switch between accounts in the mobile app depending on who’s watching with a few taps.
Jennifer Flannery O’Connor also said that “This makes it easier to ensure that everyone in the family is in the right viewing experience with the content settings and recommendations of age-appropriate content they actually want to watch”
YouTube AI Age estimate technology
Previous year YouTube also rolls out artificial intelligence (AI) powered age estimation technology to identify users under the age of 18. The company has introduced this feature in selected countries only which consists of the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and countries in the European Economic Area. The company is expected to expand the feature to other parts of the world as well.
Syed Ziyauddin is a media and international relations enthusiast with a strong academic and professional foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jamia Millia Islamia and a Master’s in International Relations (West Asia) from the same institution.
He has work with organizations like ANN Media, TV9 Bharatvarsh, NDTV and Centre for Discourse, Fusion, and Analysis (CDFA) his core interest includes Tech, Auto and global affairs.
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