YouTube Expands Supervised Kid Accounts to Middle East, North Africa,

YouTube has expanded its supervised account options for children to the Middle East, North Africa (MENA), and Turkey, reinforcing its commitment to digital safety for younger users. The feature, available within YouTube’s Family Center, allows parents to select from three content settings that dictate what their child can access on the platform.

Enhanced Parental Controls

The supervised accounts provide parents with granular control over their child’s YouTube experience. The three content settings—Explore, Explore More, and Most of YouTube—are aligned with international content ratings to ensure age-appropriate viewing. Parents can also activate a Shorts feed timer, limiting how long their child can engage with YouTube’s short-form video feature. This tool was previously introduced for U.S. teen accounts in April 2025, shortly after the supervised kid accounts debuted in the same region.

Built-in Protections for Young Users

By default, supervised accounts for users under 18 include several safety measures:

• Take a Break and Bedtime reminders to encourage mindful viewing.
• Restrictions on content creation and comments, which parents can toggle on or off.
• No targeted ads, ensuring a safer browsing experience.

These features complement YouTube’s existing teen supervision tools, which already offer a range of protections for adolescent users.

Addressing Digital Safety Concerns

The expansion comes amid growing calls for stricter social media regulations for minors. In its announcement, YouTube emphasized digital literacy as a preferable alternative to outright exclusion. The platform highlighted the educational value of regional content, citing channels like Science Street (MENA) and TRT Çocuk (Turkey) as examples of culturally relevant, enriching material for young viewers.

YouTube developed the supervised accounts in collaboration with child development specialists, aiming to create age-appropriate experiences that "protect kids in the digital world, not from it." According to a 2023 Pew Research study, approximately 90% of teens aged 13–17 use YouTube regularly, underscoring the platform’s influence among younger audiences.

As digital safety remains a priority, like.tg will continue monitoring how these updates shape the online experiences of families worldwide.