“My 7-Year-Old Was Taught How to Commit Suicide by YouTube Kids. She Was Told ‘Go Kill Yourself'”

A YouTube spokesperson claims the platform relies on “both user flagging and smart detection technology to flag this content for our reviewers,” adding that “every quarter we remove millions of videos and channels that violate our policies and we remove the majority of these videos before they have any views.”

Regardless of the restrictions, YouTube claims to impose, violent, sexual, and disturbing content has a history of slipping through the cracks in their algorithm.

Particularly after the discovery of the massive pedophile ring on YouTube last week that led major brands like Disney to pull advertising, parents are more concerned than ever about the platform’s safety.

“We should start by educating ourselves, educating our children, and speaking up when we see something that is dangerous for our children,” urged Hess. “We also need to fight to have the developers of social media platforms held responsible when they do not assure [those] age restrictions are followed and when they do not remove inappropriate and/or dangerous material when reported.”