Notes

Senate Hearing on Children's Safety

The dystopian South Korean horror series "Squid Game" has been named the most-watched TV show but it is rapidly becoming as controversial as it is popular.



The latest controversy to surface around "Squid Game" which is rated TV-MA in the United States, relates to the excitement it has created in children. This includes warnings from an Australian school that children as younger than 6 are creating games featured in the gory and dark show.



A council in Southern England recently sent an email to parents urging them to "be vigilant" following reports that "young people are copying games and violent behavior" from the show. Similar warnings were issued in Australia by educators from Western Australia and Sydney.



The "Squid Game" features characters competing for cash prizes while participating in games that are a variation on traditional Korean games for children. The "losers," however, are killed at the end each round. Further highlighting the show's twisted approach to child's play, these games are played in highly stylized arenas such as an adult scale playground for children. After each game, these traditional children's play areas are left soaked in blood and filled with corpses. This show is a huge hit in the world of digital children.



A number of channels that have been successful on YouTube Kids (designed for users less than 12) have capitalized on the "Squid Game" trend. The content on YouTube includes How To Draw "Squid Game" characters, videos of characters, and gameplay videos with "Squid Game” themes from Roblox.



This video game is loved by children. It allows users to create games and share them with friends.



"Squid Game" has become a very popular theme in these user programmed Roblox games. Many "Squid Game" Roblox videos have hundreds of thousands or even millions of views.



On both the main and kids' version of YouTube videos that are targeted 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 trend on TikTok, with people emulating the game in a variety of real-life settings as well as in videogames like Roblox and Minecraft.



The "Red Light, Green Light" scene has been deemed to be one of "Squid Game's" most widely shared moments: The giant animatronic doll that functions as a dangerous motion sensor in this game has been extensively popularized. The doll is often featured in thumbnails of YouTube videos for "Squid Game" and other related content for children.



These YouTube videos featuring children are pretty harmless. However, they show how "Squid Game" has crept into digital content specifically aimed at young children. However, the distinction between adult-oriented and child-oriented content online were always blurred.



YouTube has been the focus of many controversies over inappropriate content targeted at children. TikTok is also the subject of similar concerns about children's security and inappropriate content viewed by children. TikTok allows full access to its app to youngsters older than 13 however, reports indicate that children younger are using it. Alongside YouTube, TikTok is currently in the midst of an U.S. Senate hearing on kids' safety.



In the year 2019, YouTube was hit with a $170 million fine. The changes were made to clarify the difference between content for children and adult content. For instance, creators are now required to be able to inform YouTube if their content is for children and machine learning is used to determine videos that clearly target younger audiences.



Despite these modifications, YouTube remains a very different beast from broadcast television, and content popular with children on both the main and children's versions of the platform may differ markedly from kids' TV.



Children's YouTube content that riffs on "Squid Game" characters and scenes continues a longstanding trend of "mashup" content for children on the platform.



Similar to "Squid Game" content "mashups" videos incorporate popular themes such as search terms, themes, and characters - usually featuring famous characters in thumbnail images or video titles.



The "Squid Game" panic reverberates with the "Momo” phenomenon of 2018 and 2019. In this case, a photo of a savage figure that became associated with the moniker "Momo" was a viral image on the internet (the image was actually of an actual Japanese sculpture).



A world-wide news report was published about "Momo," claiming the creature was appearing in children's videos on YouTube and urging children to participate in deadly games and challenges.



As with "Squid Game" official warnings were sent out to parents regarding "Momo Challenge" and advised them to be on guard. I'm bonnie and you are It was soon clear that the "Momo Challenge" was likely to be an online hoax.



Momo embodied parents' worst fears regarding the dangers children face through internet usage. The fear of "Squid Game"'s influence on children is of the same tenor. These fears may not be a reaction to actual dangers, but rather an expression of our displeasure at the ease with which adult-oriented media can infiltrate websites that are geared towards young kids.



The unruly tentacles of "Squid Game's" inter-generational appeal illustrate how streaming media challenges the existing notions of "child-appropriate" content.



Adult anxieties regarding "Squid Game's" harmful influence on children stem from earlier concerns about this "mashup" content as well as about children's interactions with the web more generally.



This article is republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The original article here.



Jessica Balanzategui, a senior lecturer in screen and cinema studies at Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn (Victoria, Australia) is Jessica Balanzategui. She receives financial support from the Australian Children's Television Foundation.


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