Today YouTube plans to tell Congress it removed 7 million accounts this year believed to belong to children. YouTube’s terms of service require that accounts belong to people 13 and up, but children under the age of 13 can access YouTube and still abide by its rules with what it calls Supervised Experiences. YouTube also noted in prepared testimony that 85% of the videos it removed for violating its child safety rules in the second quarter were taken down quickly before they hit 10 views. The testimony is part of the Senate hearing on online child protections where lawmakers and regulators are looking at the real-world effects of Big Tech products and policies. YouTube has come under fire for a range of scandals involving children in the past. In 2019, Google ($GOOGL@US) agreed to a record $170 million penalty to settle a federal investigation into children's data privacy on the giant video site.
