YouTube Made for Kids Setting and COPPA: When You Must Use It

Every YouTube upload asks whether the video is made for kids. Say "yes" wrongly and you lose features and may lose some ad revenue. Say "no" wrongly and you risk consequences on YouTube and, in the worst case, legal ones. This is general information, not legal advice, and YouTube says of its own guidance that it "cannot provide legal advice" (YouTube Help).

Everyone has to answer it

"As a YouTube creator, you are required to set future and existing videos as made for kids or not. Even creators who don't make content for kids need to set their audience" (Set your audience). That applies "regardless of your location."

You can set it for the whole channel or per video, and a video setting overrides the channel's. At upload, it's the Audience question on the Basic info tab. For older videos, go to Studio > Content, select the videos, then Edit > Audience. Live streams have the same setting.

When a video counts as made for kids

YouTube says a video is made for kids if children are the primary audience, or if it's "directed at children because it features actors, characters, activities, games, songs, stories, or other subject matter that reflect an intent to target children" (Determining if your content is made for kids). Under COPPA, that second case is called "mixed audience" content. YouTube doesn't offer a separate mixed-audience option. It uses a single made-for-kids category (FAQ).

The factors YouTube lists:

• the subject matter, such as educational content for preschoolers
• whether children are the intended or actual audience, including what your metadata suggests
• child actors or models, and characters, celebrities or toys that appeal to children
• language, activities, songs, stories or poems meant for children
• whether the content is advertised to children

Having some of these "does not automatically mean it's made for kids." In the US, a kid is anyone under 13. Other countries may differ.

A video also isn't made for kids just because it's family friendly, covers an activity associated with children, or children may happen to see it. YouTube's general-audience examples include a family vlog about an amusement park, a doll-remake DIY for hobbyists and a gaming video with adult humor. Content with mature themes is likely not made for kids.

What turns off

On a video or live stream set as made for kids, YouTube says these aren't available: personalized advertising, comments, the notification bell, cards and end screens, video watermarks, channel memberships, the donate button, live chat and live chat donations, Super Chat and Super Stickers, merchandise and ticketing, autoplay on home, miniplayer playback, save to playlist and save to watch later, and likes and dislikes on YouTube Music. A channel set as made for kids also loses posts and Ask Studio (YouTube Help).

YouTube says "we don't serve personalized ads on kids content, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other applicable laws." It warns this "may result in a decrease in revenue for some creators." The help pages don't say how much.

Videos set as made for kids "are more likely to be recommended alongside other kids' videos," but they aren't automatically added to the YouTube Kids app (FAQ).

The FTC and COPPA in short

The FTC's COPPA rule covers commercial websites and online services directed to children under 13 that collect personal information. Personal information includes "a persistent identifier that can be used to recognize a user over time and across different websites or online services" (FTC COPPA FAQ). The FTC's guidance for YouTube channel owners gives "a cookie when it's used to serve targeted ads" as an example. Covered operators generally have to notify parents and get verifiable parental consent before collecting it.

The FTC says COPPA "applies in the same way it would if the channel owner had its own website or app." A channel is covered when its content is directed to children and the channel owner, or someone acting for it such as an ad network, collects personal information from viewers. The FTC adds that content isn't child-directed "just because some children may see it." But if your intended audience is kids under 13, you're covered (FTC guidance for YouTube creators).

In September 2019, Google and YouTube agreed to pay $170 million to settle allegations by the FTC and the New York Attorney General that YouTube collected children's personal information without their parents' consent. The settlement required a system that lets channel owners identify their child-directed content (FTC press release). YouTube says the audience setting is required as part of that settlement (YouTube Help).

A court can hold operators who violate the rule liable for civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, though the FTC says the amount varies case by case (FTC COPPA FAQ). The FTC amended the rule in 2025. The changes took effect on June 23, 2025, and most had to be complied with by April 22, 2026. One change lists examples of evidence the FTC may consider when judging a site's intended audience: marketing or promotional materials, "representations to consumers or to third parties," and reviews by users or third parties (Federal Register).

Mistakes to avoid

• Treating "family friendly" as the test. YouTube says it isn't one. Ask who the video is aimed at.
• Trusting a "13+" disclaimer. YouTube says such a disclaimer doesn't mean "the FTC will automatically deem your content as not made for kids." It's one factor, weighed against things like characters and songs that appeal to children and anything you've said about your audience elsewhere, such as on your website (FAQ).
• Letting YouTube decide. YouTube says, "Do not rely on our systems to set your audience for you." It can override your choice "in cases of error or abuse." After that you can't change the setting yourself. You can only appeal, and only once per video (YouTube Help).
• Using Analytics as proof. YouTube says Analytics "is not designed to help determine if your content is child directed" (YouTube Help).
• Aiming adult content at kids. Content that "targets young minors and families" but has mature themes "is not allowed on YouTube." YouTube's example is a video tagged "for children," or set as made for kids, that shows family-friendly cartoons doing things like injecting needles (Child safety policy).
• Marking everything made for kids "to be safe." You lose comments, cards, end screens and personalized ads on videos that may not need the setting.
• Making inappropriate or low-quality kids content. On made-for-kids content, mature themes such as swearing or realistic weapons can mean limited or no ad earnings (ad guidelines). YouTube's examples of low-quality content include heavily promotional videos, such as unboxing, and "keyword stuffing" (best practices). A video that breaks these quality principles may get limited or no ads. A channel with a strong focus on low-quality made-for-kids content "may be suspended from the YouTube Partner Program" (channel monetization policies).

Where the official pages are silent

YouTube says it's "unable to provide guidance on whether you accurately set your audience as made for kids" (YouTube Help). The FTC says it "cannot provide an opinion on whether a specific site or service is directed to children" (FTC COPPA FAQ). YouTube's audience pages don't treat Shorts differently, though its quality principles say they apply to both long-form videos and Shorts. The pages also don't define "abuse." If you're unsure, YouTube's advice is to get legal advice.

Check before you upload

FYProof checks your video, caption and hashtags against each platform's rules before you post. For this setting, it flags signs of child-directed content, such as kids' characters, nursery songs or "for kids" hashtags, so you can check the audience setting again. Results are estimates, not a ruling on COPPA.

Before you post

• [ ] Decided who the video is for using YouTube's factors, not just whether it's family friendly
• [ ] Set Audience on this video, and checked the channel default fits
• [ ] Title, tags, description and channel About page match the audience you chose
• [ ] No kids' characters or "for kids" tags on adult content
• [ ] If it's made for kids: no swearing, realistic guns or scary characters, and nothing mainly promotional
• [ ] Still unsure? Asked a lawyer rather than guessing