Notes

Senate Hearing on the Safety Of Children

The dystopian South Korean horror series "Squid Game" has become Netflix's most watched TV series however, it is fast becoming as controversial as it is well-known.



The recent controversy surrounding "Squid Game," which has been rated TV-MA in the United States is related to the growing interest in the show among 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. Similar warnings were issued in Australia by educators from Sydney and Western Australia.



The "Squid Game" is a show where characters compete for cash prizes, participating in challenges that enhance traditional Korean games for children. The "losers," however, are killed at the end of every round. Further highlighting the show's twisted take on child's play, the games are played out in highly stylized arenas, such as an adult scale children's play area. These traditional playgrounds for children are often left covered in blood and littered with corpses following every challenge. The show is certainly popular among children's online culture.



A variety of popular channels on YouTube Kids (designed for users less than 12) have capitalized on the "Squid Game" trend. The YouTube content includes How to Draw "Squid Game", character videos, and gameplay videos from Roblox that feature "Squid Game".



The Roblox game "Squid Game", which is a well-loved theme has become extremely popular. Minecraftservers Many Roblox videos featuring "Squid Game" have hundreds of thousands of views, if not millions of views.



On both the kids' and main version of YouTube videos targeted at children showcase children (often children) playing these "Squid Game" inspired games in Roblox and Minecraft, with the "Red Light, Green Light" challenge becoming a wildly popular trend. This challenge is also a trend on TikTok and users are playing the game in a vast range of real-life settings and videogames Roblox and Minecraft.



The "Red Light, Green Light" scene has been named one of "Squid Game's" most widely shared moments: The giant animatronic doll acting as a deadly motion sensor in the game has been extensively meme-ified. The doll is frequently included in thumbnails of YouTube videos of "Squid Game" as well as other related content for children.



Most of these kids' YouTube videos are harmless by themselves. But, they illustrate how "Squid Game" has crept into digital content explicitly targeting children in the early years. However the distinction between adult-oriented and child-oriented content on the internet were never clear.



YouTube has been at the center of numerous controversy concerning inappropriate content targeted at children. TikTok has also been the subject of similar concerns about children's security and inappropriate content seen by children. TikTok gives full access to the app for children older than 13, but reports indicate that children younger than 13 are using it: Like YouTube, TikTok is currently facing a U.S. Senate hearing on children's safety.S. Federal Trade Commission, in 2019, made significant changes to make clear the distinction between children's and adult content on the platform. For instance, creators are now required to declare on YouTube whether their content is for children. Machine-learning is also utilized to identify videos that clearly target young audiences.



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



YouTube content for children that riffs on "Squid Game” characters and scenes continues a long-standing trend of "mashups" content for children.



Like "Squid Game" content, "mashup" videos harness popular themes, search terms , and characters - usually featuring popular characters in thumbnail imagery and video titles.



The growing global concern over children's participation in "Squid Game" challenges is similar to the "Momo" phenomenon of 2018 and in 2019. In this instance an image of a sinister persona that was later attributed to the moniker "Momo" was a viral image on the internet (the image was actually of an actual Japanese sculpture).



An international news cycle emerged about "Momo," claiming the creature was appearing in children's video content on YouTube and encouraging kids to play deadly games and challenges.



Similar to what is happening with regard to "Squid Game,"" official warnings were issued to parents regarding the "Momo Challenge," advising them to be aware. It was quickly discovered that the "Momo Challenge", a viral hoax, was most likely an elaborate hoax.



Momo represented parents' worst fears about the dangers of children's internet usage. The concern about "Squid Game"'s influence on children has the same tenor. These fears might not be a reaction to actual dangers, but an expression of our displeasure with the ease with which adult-oriented media can infiltrate websites that are geared towards young children.



The appeal of streaming media for all ages shows how streaming media challenge the notion of "child-appropriate content."



Adult concerns concerning "Squid Game's" harmful influence on children build on earlier concerns about this "mashup" content as well as children's interaction with the web more generally.



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



Jessica Balanzategui is 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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