CHARLOTTE — If you have young children, you may be among the 11-million users each week of the YouTube Kids app. It offers a seemingly endless supply of kid-friendly videos -- including many with popular cartoon characters.
Many parents feel it's a safe option because its videos are filtered, but some say their children were exposed - without warning - to violent, even sexual, scenarios.
"I came in to see what I was hearing, and it was Elsa delivering a baby for Ana," said mother Jennifer McLean. "Totally inappropriate - it was like she was on a table, legs spread."
McLean did some more viewing and said she was horrified to see sexual content, drug use, and violence.
"A lot of the videos seemed to start off as very kid friendly, and then all of a sudden turn into something very inappropriate," she said.
For Chrissy Campilio - whose daughter Maddie also used the YouTube Kids app - it happened just as suddenly.
"I thought 'What are you crying at?' I turned around and I saw adult hands with Peppa Pig toys and they were chopping the heads off Peppa Pig," she recalled.
Maddie fell into the trap of inappropriate videos infiltrating what otherwise seems like a safe, child-friendly app. It's happening through the suggested "next video" queue. There's a normal harmless video followed by one that's anything but. The problem is being dubbed "Elsa Gate".
Detective Matthew Murphy investigates internet crimes for the Massachusetts State Police. He says law enforcement knows about Elsa Gate but can't do anything about it.
"It is concerning, but there are a lot of concerning things that don't rise to the level of a crime," he explained.
No law enforcement agency is investigating who's behind the videos, or why they're being uploaded by the hundreds every day. YouTube is aware of the problem. It says it has terminated over 50 channels for endangering children and removed advertising revenue for more than 3 million videos that use known characters in misleading situations.
But that's not enough protection for Chrissy Campilio.
"How do you come back from that? How do you explain that to a child as a parent?" she asked. "Delete it. Don't trust it. Delete it."
YouTube uses algorithms - not people - to determine whether uploaded videos are appropriate for their users. Experts say Elsa Gate proves why algorithms don't always work - especially not on sites that cater to the youngest of viewers. That means as a parent - if you choose to let your kids use the app - you have to watch over their shoulder.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says if you encounter this type of content online, you should report it to the platform and to the cyber tip line, and always have conversations with your kids about online safety.
Cox Media Group
