Engl. transl.: Youtube literacy for children and youth: an intervention agenda (translated by the coder)

This work seeks to propose an agenda for YouTube literacy based on problems raised from the thematic analysis of indexed articles and reference books about the platform. The broad literature review aimed to identify the main challenges that the platform poses so that the public, in particularly the youngest, use it critically. YouTube literacy is configured as a set of competences that must be held so that, according to the bases of media literacy (LOPES, 2015), it is possible for its users to access better (relationship between the person and the platform where he/she is searching for information), create (content that can be shared positively), evaluate and understand (ability to think, criticize and give an opinion as a consumer of the desired information) YouTube. The more children use the internet, the more skills they acquire and more they climb the so-called ladder of opportunities (LIVINGSTONE, 2020). However, this progression depends on numerous factors, including age, sex, socioeconomic status, as well as parental support and specific opportunities available. In this sense, the authors claim that it is fundamental to invest in education to teach children and parents/educators the knowledge and skills to operate as agents and rights holders in relation to the digital environment (translated by the coder).

"We envision an agenda for YouTube literacy, especially aimed at children and adolescents, structured on four fundamental objectives: 1. Knowing the platform; 2. Evaluate advertising on YouTube; 3. Understand digital influencers and their communities of followers and 4. Promote online ethics and well-being" (Marôpo, L. & Jorge, A., 2020: 367, translated by the coder). "YouTube's democratization potential has largely been replaced by its immense economic potential. This process contributed strongly to the creation of new business models in social media and, consequently, new types of celebrities, advertising and formats, thus proposing unique challenges for the promotion of digital literacy among the youngest. These reflections are directly linked to the debate on the digital rights of children and adolescents and refer to central issues in this area, such as digital advertising directed at children, the professionalization of children producing digital content and the consequent concerns with the exploitation of child labor, the right to be protected from content harmful to their development and the right of children to express themselves in the digita environment in conditions that promote well-being. From a structural point of view, we also emphasize the relevance and urgency of the debate on regulation, at the international level, that requires platforms such as YouTube to have legal obligations in consequence of its expression around the world. In a context in which the symbolic order becomes increasingly fractured, at the same time as the capacity of previously authorized sources, such as the media, to guarantee common meanings declines (ANDREJEVIC, 2013), it is necessary to strengthen the mechanisms of pressure on Google (and YouTube) to accept greater editorial responsibility for “fake news”, “hate speech”, “extremist content” and the “filter bubble” that restricts the range of videos that users can watch (ARTHURS; DRAKOPOULOU and GANDINI, 2018)" (Marôpo, L. & Jorge, A., 2020: 375, translated by the coder).