January 15, 2026 – As the issue of online safety for minors continues to draw global attention, YouTube is stepping up its efforts to enhance parental control features.
On January 14 local time, YouTube announced a series of new restrictions specifically targeting its short – video section, Shorts, aiming to assist parents in better managing the time children and teenagers spend on the platform.
With the newly introduced functions, parents can set a maximum viewing time limit for Shorts on their children’s accounts. This is designed to mitigate the risk of addiction caused by prolonged short – video binge – watching.
Parents also have the option to completely block the Shorts feature. They can choose to turn it off permanently or temporarily restrict it in certain situations. For instance, when children need to use YouTube to watch educational videos or review for exams, parents can activate this option.
In addition, YouTube has brought in more flexible “bedtime” and “break reminder” settings. These reminders are not only for minors; adults can also set corresponding limits for their own accounts to prompt themselves to take a break from watching content.
Given that many parents use both adult and child accounts on YouTube, the platform plans to optimize the account – switching process within the app in the coming weeks. This will make it more convenient for parents and children to switch between different accounts. However, users still need to take the initiative to complete the switching operation.
It is worth noting that YouTube currently already allows parents to supervise the content posting on teenagers’ channels. Such regulatory mechanisms have become the norm in the industry, with platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook all offering similar control tools.
Moreover, YouTube launched age – estimation technology last year. This technology is used to determine whether an account belongs to a teenager, so as to provide a more age – appropriate user experience.
