YouTube is set to implement a rule change on July 22 that raises the minimum age for livestreaming from 13 to 16, a move that could affect many young content creators on the platform.
The platform, owned by Google, stated that “any live streams featuring 13 to 15-year-olds who are not visibly accompanied by an adult may have their live chat disabled” and that the account “may temporarily lose access to live chat or other features.” Google also warned that “in the future, we plan to take down these live streams and the account may temporarily lose its ability to live stream.”
No clear reason was given for the update, but many users believe the limit should be even higher. “Imo it should be at least 18 considering there are a lot of freaks on the internet,” one Reddit user commented. Another added, “Good. It should be 18, kids shouldn’t be streaming.”