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Papers Please!
Variety has a good writeup of YouTube’s upcoming age verification procedures, which will in part use machine learning technology to determine if a YouTube user is under 18:
According to YouTube, the age estimation model uses a variety of signals such as YouTube activity and longevity of the account. If the system determines that you are under 18, you will be notified and “standard protections for teen accounts on YouTube will automatically be enabled.”
Those “protections” (which are already applied for users who have told YouTube they’re under 18) include: showing only non-personalized ads; enabling “digital wellbeing” tools by default, including “take a break” and bedtime reminders; showing reminders about privacy when uploading a video or commenting publicly; minimizing recommendations of videos with content that could be “problematic if viewed in repetition”; and blocking access to videos that are age-restricted for only viewers 18 and older (determined by YouTube or verified by users).
Can I get a “bedtime reminder”? I’m not a teen but sometimes I do find myself watching YouTube videos into the wee hours. I can’t get enough police interrogations of serial killers! But occasionally I do need someone to remind me to go to bed. I mean, somebody besides my supermodel Canadian girlfriend who is frequently out of town due to her modeling career!
All joking aside (joking about bedtime reminders specifically, and not about my Canadian supermodel girlfriend who is very real), I don’t hate these types of restrictions being in place. If Google’s AI can identify some preteen who shouldn’t be accessing adult-oriented content on YouTube, great.
The part that makes me uncomfortable is this:
According to YouTube, users will “have the option to verify your age (through government ID, selfie or a credit card) if you believe our age estimation model is incorrect.”
I just find this creepy and annoying. I don’t want to have to upload any personal materials to them. How, then, will they know who’s an adult and who isn’t? I have no idea, but it’s not my problem to solve. Perhaps they need to institute a Leisure Suit Larry-style quiz in order to sort things out.
Over at Slate, writer Nitish Pahwa explores the implications of these requirements within the context of the UK’s Online Safety Act and similar possible restrictions coming to the US:
Protecting underage users online is a noble goal, but the Online Safety Act’s net effect appears to have been the destruction of creative freedom online—both within and outside of the U.K. Reddit, for its part, is undermining its longtime commitment to user anonymity in order to retain its Brits, who now have to upload biometric data (i.e., face scans) or a copy of a government ID document to a buggy outside contractor before gaining access to subreddits that may have explicit content, which has come to affect communities like r/TransgenderUK and r/earwax. Since it’s impossible for volunteer moderators, much less the broader company, to effectively screen all user-generated inputs at all times, this wide-reaching hurdle is intended to shield Reddit from any possible violations.
The worst effects have come down hardest on smaller communities and not-for-profit websites—like Wikipedia, which Ofcom intends to deem a “Category 1” platform (on par with corporations like Meta and Discord) thanks primarily to extensive usership.
Users who want to remain anonymous or pseudonymous will have the most to lose from policies like these. Part of the joy of the Internet is being able to not be yourself! I can’t say I particularly trust any of the major tech companies or their contractors with my personal information (hence my approval of tools like Privacy, although it is itself yet another tech company with my private info).
Do I want kids exposed to adult content? No, but I also don’t think it’s my issue to resolve.
Alternate Universe Howard Stern
The Hollywood Reporter’s good piece on whether or not Howard Stern will actually be done at SiriusXM got me to thinking about something I’d love to see someone tackle in a long form:
Did Howard make a significant long-term mistake by going to Sirius back in 2006? What does an alternate universe look like where Howard stayed on terrestrial radio or became an early podcasting adopter?
Obviously financially Stern made a lucrative decision! But as a listener during his radio years, I can’t help but think the self-imposed limitation of a subscription service preemptively removed Stern from his perch in pop culture and left the vacuum to filled by his podcasting and streaming successors like Joe Rogan.
A modern corollary to me is when I’ll read about a Netflix TV show of which I’ve never heard in my life. For instance, ever heard of Virgin River?
This is a Netflix show about to premiere its 7th season and has already been renewed for an 8th. I literally learned about this show just now after Googling “Netflix TV shows.” This is the sort of space that The Howard Stern Show slowly began to occupy post-Sirius move.
Don’t get me wrong, in 2025, a 71 year old man is not going to be a driving force of cultural discussion. However, it does feel to me like Stern ended up cutting off his own influence prematurely, in a manner similar to our many modern content owners and producers as they push forward with binge releasing, short theatrical windows, and paywalls.
Kernels (3 links worth making popcorn for)
Here’s a round-up of cool and interesting links about Hollywood and technology:
Netflix is the the king of kids TV. (link)
Product placement is peaking. (link)
The underground market for video game cheating. (link)