You can FINALLY block YouTube Shorts

But also, you can't. It's complicated. I'll break it down for you.

Pretty much as soon as YouTube shorts debuted, people started asking “how do I block this for my kids?”

Well, the good news is, you can now limit kids’ access to YouTube shorts for the first time EVER.

And the bad news is, it’s probably not exactly what you were hoping for.

Swipe through because I show you how to do it, what the limitations are, and my true thoughts about this development.

I don’t have any huge issues with shorts but I totally understand why caregivers may want to block it.

My first reaction when seeing this news was: FINALLY

My next reaction was: Wait….you can’t do this in YouTube Kids accounts?!

And my last reaction was: Hold on…you can set a time limit for Shorts….but the time limit can’t be “zero”? What?!

Last year at the Common Sense Media summit, I listened to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan discuss the ways YouTube keeps kids safe and has more robust controls than almost any other platform. And this is technically true.

But I also heard him skirt most direct questions about the way their algorithms prioritize extremist content, engagement, and user attention, and how this could be a negative impact on kids.

Moments like this make me so frustrated for caregivers: they’re told “don’t allow YouTube” but almost ALL video content online is on YouTube, including things like homework related content, tons of educational content, and even “how to” videos that I rely on all the time. It’s not practical to just ban it. But when you try to do it the “right” way, by using content controls, moments like this feel like the platforms such as YouTube are actually punishing parents who are trying to customize the product to fit their kids’ needs.

Youtube claims that setting shorts time limits to zero is coming “soon” but gives no explanation about why that isn’t an option now, which leads me to believe they are hoping parents will choose a longer time limit and then forget to adjust it.

Not allowing a limit on shorts within YouTube kids feels borderline criminal to me. For parents using “approved content only” to individually choose channels or videos for their kids, this feels like a slap in the face. I shouldn’t have to jump through 15 hopes to allow my child to watch Studson Studios make Power Rangers out of trash, but also find ways to block “Vlad and Nicky” shorts videos.

In short: Yes, you should probably use this. No, it’s not enough. And this is why governments are starting to finally regulate tech companies, because when given infinite chances to do the right thing, they still choose not to.