Notes

Senate Hearing on Children's Safety

The dystopian South Korean horror series "Squid Game" has been named the most-watched television series however, it is fast becoming as controversial as it is popular.



The recent controversy surrounding "Squid Game" which has been classified as TV-MA in the United States is related to the increasing interest of young children. This includes warnings from an Australian school that children as young as 6 are creating games featured in the dark and gory hit show. In Australia similar warnings were issued by teachers in Sydney and Western Australia.
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The "Squid Game" involves characters competing for cash prizes, taking part in games that are a variation on classic Korean games for children. The "losers," however, are killed at the conclusion of each round. Further emphasizing the show's twisted approach to child's play, the games are played out in highly stylized arenas like an adult-sized children's playground. After each challenge the traditional play spaces tend to be left soaked in blood and filled with corpses. The show is certainly a craze within children's digital culture.



YouTube Kids has many successful channels that capitalize on the "Squid Game” trend. These channels are designed for viewers younger than 12. This YouTube content includes How to Draw "Squid Game" characters, videos of characters and gameplay videos from Roblox which include "Squid Game".



The Roblox game "Squid Game" which is a popular theme, has been extremely popular. Many Roblox videos featuring "Squid Game", have hundreds of thousands or even millions of views.



On both the main and kids' version of YouTube, videos aimed at children feature users (often children) playing these "Squid Game" inspired games in Roblox and Minecraft, with the "Red Light, Green Light" challenge being a popular trend. This challenge is also a popular trend on TikTok where people are attempting to emulate the game in a wide range of real-life settings as well as in videogames like Roblox and Minecraft.



The "Red Light, Green Light" scene has been named one of "Squid Game's" most popular moments: The massive animatronic doll that functions as a deadly motion sensor in the game has been heavily meme-ified. This doll is often seen in video thumbnails for "Squid Game"-related children's YouTube content.



The majority of these children's YouTube videos are pretty harmless by themselves. However, they demonstrate how "Squid Game" has been incorporated into digital content explicitly targeting young children. However, the lines between child-oriented and adult-oriented content online were never clear.



YouTube has been the focus of many controversies over inappropriate content directed at children. TikTok has also been subject to similar concerns regarding children's safety and the content that is watched by children. TikTok allows access to its app for children older than 13, however, reports indicate that children younger than 13 are using it: Like YouTube, TikTok is currently facing a U.S. Senate hearing on kids' safety.S. Federal Trade Commission in 2019, sweeping changes were introduced to make the distinction between children's and adult content more clear on the platform. For instance, creators must now be able to inform YouTube that their content is for children. Machine-learning is also used to identify videos that specifically target young viewers.



Despite these changes, YouTube remains a very different beast from broadcast television, and content that is popular with children on both the main and children's versions of the platform can differ significantly from children's TV.



Children's YouTube content that is a riff on "Squid Game" characters and scenes continue a long-running trend of "mashup" content for children on the platform.



Like "Squid Game" content, "mashup" videos harness the latest trends in themes such as search terms and characters, often featuring famous characters in thumbnail images and video titles.



The increasing global anxiety over children's participation in "Squid Game" challenges is reminiscent of the "Momo" phenomenon of 2018 and 2019. In this case, a photo of a terrifying persona that was later attributed to the moniker "Momo" became viral on the internet (the photo was actually of a Japanese sculpture).



A global news story broke about "Momo," claiming the creature was being featured in children's content on YouTube and encouraging children to play deadly games and challenges.



As is currently happening in the context of "Squid Game," official warnings were issued to parents about the "Momo Challenge," advising them to be vigilant. It soon became clear the "Momo Challenge" was likely to be an internet-based hoax.



Momo was an emblem of parents' most feared fears about children's use of the internet. The concern about "Squid Game"'s influence on children is of a similar tenor. These fears may not be a response to actual dangers, but an expression of our displeasure with the ease that adult-oriented media can infiltrate online content aimed at children.



The inter-generational appeal of streaming media shows how streaming media challenges the notion of "child-appropriate content."



Adult concerns about "Squid Game"'s harmful influence on children are rooted in earlier concerns about this "mashup", but also about children's interactions with the internet in general.



This article was reproduced by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The original article is available here.



Jessica Balanzategui is a senior lecturer in cinema and screen studies at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. She is supported by the Australian Children's Television Foundation.


Website: https://hbl.info/