YouTube has partnered with more than a dozen well-known kids studios, broadcasters and educational orgs to not only prioritize high-quality content for this audience, but also actively limit the reach of low-quality videos.

Announced yesterday (March 18), this new push is called the Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative. At its core, YouTube plans to make it easier for kids to access content that promotes media literacy and digital citizenship, fosters learning in and out of classrooms, and supports their wellbeing and development. And conversely, the platform will also implement safeguards to limit kids’ exposure to “low-quality” and potentially harmful content, although it hasn’t shared any details about what shape these safety measures might take.

YouTube has teamed up with content creators and distributors such as Toronto-based WildBrain, Miraculous Corp, The Pinkfong Company and Moonbug Entertainment to help shape the vision for its Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative, the overarching goal of which is to improve kids’ online experiences by promoting “healthy and enriching” content.

Other participating companies include Animaj, Benesse, BouncePatrol, ChuChu TV, CoroCoro Comic, EBS, Japan Football Association, Kedoo, Khan Academy, Leader Entertainment, Mauricio de Sousa Produções, The Wiggles and TV Cultura.

Through product design and content creation—which these key partners will help inform—YouTube says it’s looking to raise industry standards for kids content across multiple languages and internationally.

Steps being taken to achieve these lofty goals include considering kids’ and teens’ developmental needs from the start of its product design and content development processes, setting age-appropriate defaults to stop young viewers from seeing sexually explicit content and graphic violence, and investing in research-backed resources for families that cover media literacy and digital citizenship.

YouTube has defined the kind of content it plans to prioritize and provide easier access to loosely as high-quality, age-appropriate, “enriching, engaging and inspiring.” But there’s no information available yet about how it will determine which content is high-quality and which is low-quality.

Echoing YouTube’s definition almost verbatim, Animaj co-founder Gregory Dray tells Playback‘s sister publication Kidscreen: “We are dedicated to enriching young lives by delivering high-quality, age-appropriate content that entertains, inspires and educates. Our ‘Made-for-YouTube’ episodes of Pocoyo are designed to foster a nurturing environment where creativity and learning flourish together. We are committed to empowering kids and parents, on their platform of choice, with engaging content that ensures a safe and positive online experience.”

Bitna Kwon, chief strategy officer at The Pinkfong Company, had this to say: “Children have always been at the heart of everything we do. Joining YouTube’s Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative is a natural extension of our mission to create content that’s not just entertaining, but truly enriching for young minds. We’ve always focused on ensuring kids consume quality content in a healthy way, whether that’s through expert content review, or by implementing features to manage viewing time. We’re delighted to be part of this initiative and to be working with industry leaders to create a safer digital landscape where children can explore, learn and thrive with content.”

And WildBrain president and CEO Josh Scherba shared similar sentiments, highlighting that WildBrain takes children’s safety and development seriously. “As a global company, with distribution and production operations delivering content to kids all across today’s media landscape, we are pleased to join the Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative, alongside our partners at YouTube and industry peers, reflecting standards that ensure kids and families can enjoy high-quality, diverse, and enriching entertainment content in a safe digital environment.”

Kate Smith, WildBrain’s EVP of audience engagement, told Kidscreen: “WildBrain has been on YouTube for almost ten years, and it has always been our mandate to offer a broad range of premium, broadcast quality content across our channels. As one of the largest networks of kids and family channels on the platform, we’re pleased to support any initiative that improves experiences on digital platforms for kids and their families.”

Moonbug Entertainment’s director of platforms and music, Jon Benoy, echoed these ideas: “Millions of families learn and bond through CoComelon, Blippi and our other beloved shows. That’s why we dedicate substantial care and resources to ensure every episode is as enriching as it is entertaining. We’re thrilled to join the Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative to help positively shape how young kids experience online content around the world.”

YouTube also plans to roll out controls and settings that support healthy screen time limits, as well as directing kids towards crisis resources in case they are disturbed by viewing content that talks about mental health topics such as suicide and self-harm.

“The wellbeing of young people on our platform is a top priority at YouTube, and the Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative builds upon our longstanding efforts,” said CEO Neal Mohan in a blog post today. “This includes YouTube Kids and supervised experiences. We also continue to collaborate with third-party experts, including our recent work with the American Psychological Association to create a parents’ guide to navigating quality time spent online.”

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen

Image courtesy of WildBrain