YouTube has launched YouTube supervised kid accounts across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including the United Arab Emirates. The new experience gives children access to the main YouTube app with enhanced safety, age-appropriate content settings, parental controls, and built-in protections.

The launch marks YouTube’s next step in creating age appropriate experiences for young users. It aims to help children explore, learn, and enjoy content while giving parents greater control over their online experience.

Unlike standard accounts, YouTube supervised kid accounts are designed for parents who believe their child is ready to use the main YouTube app but still requires supervision. Parents can choose this optional experience and remove it at any time if they prefer their child to have unrestricted access to YouTube.

The new accounts include three content settings that broadly align with international content ratings. The “Explore” setting offers educational videos, tutorials, arts and crafts, and dance content. “Explore More” expands access by adding gaming videos and live streams. Meanwhile, “Most of YouTube” provides access to nearly all videos on the platform, except content rated 18+ or material considered unsuitable for supervised accounts.

In addition, YouTube has introduced an industry first Shorts feed timer. Parents can set daily limits for scrolling through YouTube Shorts. By setting the timer to zero, they can completely disable Shorts scrolling, which may be useful during exam periods or other times when families want to reduce distractions.

The accounts also include several built in wellbeing features that are enabled by default for users under 18. These include “Take a Break” reminders and “Bedtime” reminders to encourage healthier viewing habits.

Furthermore, certain standard YouTube features are disabled for supervised kid accounts. Children cannot create content, post comments, or access personalised advertising. Autoplay is also turned off by default, providing parents with greater control over their child’s viewing experience.

The announcement builds on YouTube’s existing supervised teen accounts, which are already available across the region. These optional accounts allow teenagers to access most of YouTube while encouraging conversations between parents and children. Parents can link their accounts with their teenager’s account, receive email notifications if videos are uploaded or live streams are started, and access insights into their teenager’s channel activity.

Javid Aslanov, Head of YouTube Middle East & North Africa, said, “YouTube has been a huge part of families’ lives across this region for over 20 years, whether to help with homework or as a shared viewing experience on the family TV, which is why we’re continuously investing in tools that serve families and put their wellness first. Research by Kantar shows that 95% of viewers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE agree that YouTube has top content in education and learning, while 92% of Gen Z viewers say it has helped them learn new skills.”

Garth Graham, Head of Health at YouTube, added, “It’s essential that we protect young people in, not from, the digital world. Thoughtful safeguards like kid and teen accounts help us continue to give young people a place to learn and explore, while ensuring the right tools and boundaries are in place to keep them safe and give families a choice.”

The launch is part of YouTube’s broader commitment to family safety, which spans more than a decade and is supported by guidance from independent child development specialists. Alongside YouTube supervised kid accounts, the company continues to offer the standalone YouTube Kids app, featuring a curated library of age appropriate videos, and Google Family Link, which enables parents to manage app usage, filter content, set digital ground rfules, and monitor the location of a child’s Android device.

With the introduction of YouTube supervised kid accounts, YouTube says it will continue investing in safety, privacy, and digital wellbeing tools that give families more choice while helping children and teenagers enjoy a safer online experience.

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