To think that the government should take action to make the internet safer?

[ElasticGirl]

I am so upset by the story about the 10 year old boy who accidentally strangled himself playing a youtube game? How can we protect our children from this? How can Youtube allow videos demonstrating how to strangle yourself?

And how could you force youtube to do that? Most videos that get taken down need to be reported first. Ofc the government could always ban youtube,fb,twitter and everything else like they did with the piracy websites.

You can't censor the Internet. Instagram tried to ban hashtags associated with anorexia and bulimia. The Internet went mad and flooded it with photos tagged. Nobody wants to be censored.

With that in mind, you have to be mindful that you are allowing a child access to an adults Internet. That means getting reports of what videos they have watched and what they are searching, it means good parental controls, it means checking devices.

That is the job of the parent and it cannot become the job of the Internet or government. Let's face it, it would never work. We can't even keep child abuse imagery off the Internet. The way to access the dark web comes easier for every generation.

If he'd been using the kids version of YouTube, he'd never have been able to access the game. It's sad that he could and that he tried to play.

It's not just the Internet that's to blame, though. I went to school years and years before YouTube was launched. We used to make ourselves pass out. Some people used to give themselves Chinese burns or play that chicken scratch game. This type of "game" have been around since long before the Internet and they'd last even without it.

China is actually an excellent example of a country that tries and fails to control the Internet. Or any of the many countries that have banned Internet sites like Facebook because of not liking the content they find there. It doesn't end well.

If you can't access the site natively, use a VPN. If there's no videos showing what you want to see on YouTube, torrent one or search the dark web.

When I was a kid ( way before t'internet) there was a spate of kids being injured and killed jumping out of windows because they thought they were superheroes like they had seen on TV. Lucky the government didn't ban TV superheroes

Btw i can't find the story anywhere?

My DC use the internet in a public place usually laptop on the kitchen table. They are 8 & 12. That might mean I know more about Stampy, iBallistic Squid and Dan TDM than I want but it also means I know what they are watching.

I would much rather the Government focusses its resources on the really nasty stuff on the internet like child abuse images. Parents have to recognise that the internet is virtually uncontrollable because it is so nebulous so you have to monitor access because nobody can't prevent content being uploaded in the first place.

Sorry found it

I think as much as people would like parents to be omnipotent, including parents themselves, I think they could be helped more. I think this is a case that calls for particular attention to prevent it happening again, instead of just crossing our fingers.

To what end?

People don't like censorship, they'll flood the internet with dummy data to thwart these efforts. Genuinely malicious users will find workarounds. Why not just assume that there's some bad stuff out there and keep an eye on your kids until they're old enough to really know better?

I think as much as people would like parents to be omnipotent, including parents themselves, I think they could be helped more.

It's not possible. We cannot police the internet. It's too big, there's too many jurisdictions, different legal systems, hidden areas. It's physically not possible.

Parents have to monitor the usage of one or two children, usually. There are systems in place to help with that - parental controls, activity reports, etc. Neither of those require the parent to be omnipresent or able to watch their child online all the time.

Monitoring the whole internet would be incredibly difficult. To be honest, when someone finds a good way to do it, it'll be used for detecting crimes, removing manuals on how to make bombs, removing child abuse imagery, identifying abuse circles, identifying potential terrorists etc, LONG before it's used to censor the internet for children.

You tube is subject to it's own regulations, if you look on their site, it doesn't allow harmful content. Just because its youtube doesn't exempt it from regulation, and is more similar to broadcast television then you may think.

I'd really like to know why you don't just remove Youtube access?

Surely your kids are more interested in Miniclip or similar?

I am not trying to address the whole time internet. I would like attention paid to this particular case.

Tragic though this is, perhaps parents could stop letting their children have access to things meant for adults then blaming "the authorities" when things go wrong. Too simple?

They can say they don't allow harmful content all they like but all they can do is react - not prevent.

How is Youtube similar to broadcast television?

OP, Youtube is a vast sea of content.

I would like to know exactly how you think Youtube could police it - would you like someone to actually approve videos before they are posted? Or, would you like them to search on certain keywords? Or...?

We went around this when Cameron chose to bring in 'controls' that ISPs were supposed to implement a few years ago.
Any teen worth their salt can get around most simple parental controls.
The internet is not within anyone's control. YouTube would need to employ vast numbers of people to watch all their content.
We have limited resources and I'd prefer they were spent on makers of child abuse images.
Think of it like friends. You have the deciding vote on friendships when your cc are young. If you let them wander the streets they'll get into all sorts of trouble. As they get older they have friendships you know little about and they roam further. Adults are free to roam. Apply that to the internet.

I think this is a case that calls for particular attention to prevent it happening again, instead of just crossing our fingers.

Well quite. And paying particular attention to prevent it happening again means parents not letting their 10-year olds watch YouTube. Why do you expect the government to take responsibility for your parenting?

And could you realistically find comfort in knowing that the the government was the one ensuring your kid's safety? I don't have much confidence in bureaucrats.

My understanding is that these sort of videos are banned from You Tube but a moderator has to find and delete it. What more could the Government do?

What are your specific proposals?

If someone was playing these sort of dares at school you would go and talk to the head about it, just because it is the internet we shouldn't be afraid to speak up and ask youtube to be responsible for it's content.

I do feel that the internet grew too quickly, it grew before the authorities realised what could be done with it, how it could be used (especially the dark web)
I think if it had slowly evolved, laws and 'internet policing' would be there.
But it didn't, so everyone is on catch up. Im not entirely sure the benefits outweigh the negatives of it, but its here and we have to accept that. The best thing we can do as parents is to give the children the tools to deal with things they may come across, encourage them to talk to us, talk to them abut whats acceptable and whats not. Its our job to give them those tools.

If you can't see how a school is different than Youtube, then I'm afraid we've reached the end of the line.

I believe YouTube delete these videos when they are reported or spotted. Just think how long it can take for offensive posts to be deleted on this site despite multiple reports; YouTube is much bigger and more international.
YouTube is not the only platform used to share these videos.

The government has already promised to looked into it and try to prevent from happening again. Seems it didn't work.
What you can do as a parent beyond the usual parental controls,supervision etc?
Don't engage in the presence of your children,or worse actively engage them in any kind of challenge fad .
Encourage them not to follow a crowd,to talk about any dangerous behaviour/conversations had by others etc
Talk to them when these things happen! Don't shield them and pretend it's not happening. Take the curiosity out of it and emphasise the consequences.
Report it every time you become aware of it. Op you want the government to do something. Have you actually looked on youtube and reported any of those videos? I did.
Talk to them in general about internet and internet safety. Give them the tools for safety use...the knowledge from dangerous challenges,to pictures,talking with strangers etc. Not everything you see on a screen should be copied or believed.