Netflix Tightens Its Parental Controls for Cooped-Up Kids

Netflix is strengthening parental controls, offering more tools to limit what kids can watch on the world's most popular paid streaming service. From a report: Parents can now filter out titles they deem inappropriate and protect individual profiles with a PIN so kids can't use them, the company said Tuesday. These changes take effect for customers in all 190 countries where the streaming service is available.

Kids are smart

[fermion]

And have nothing to do all day than to figure to get around these limitations. When I was a kid, childproof me dice bottles were the rage, but of course any kid over 5 could open them, and no one over 50 could. It kept young kids from offing themselves, but not really.

These parental controls are there to keep parents paying for Netflix, and keep Netflix liability down. There, is, however, no substitute for parent teaching kids and kids being allowed to explore responsibly.

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[LenKagetsu]

Netflix would not be held responsible for what a kid views on the platform.

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[Rick Schumann]

You underestimate how litigious people can be, how irrational a lawsuit can be and still get settled, or how skeezy some lawyers are, who would gleefully file against Netflix because there's money to be had.

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[LenKagetsu]

I don't, and those people would be laughed out of court at best, or thrown in jail for contempt and wasting the court's time at worst.

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[Rockoon]

Depends how direct or indirect.

Your kid goes on a murdering spree killing a neighbors 5 children after watching Natural Born Killers. You will get laughed out of court if you try to sue.
Your neighbors kid goes on a murdering spree killing your 5 children after watching Natural Born Killers. I wouldnt want to take bets on the outcome of your lawsuit.

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[fermion]

“ keep parents paying for Netflix”

Anyone can sue, and it will cost Netflix money, and negative publicity.

But the primary issue here, as stated, it to keep parents paying. Disney is expensive because it provides a highly curated platform for parents. Netflix cant curate like that, but the allow parent control.

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[Rick Schumann]

Parents? Be responsible for how their kids behave? In the year 2020, in *America*?



BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA *snort* HAHAHAhahaha *snort* stop stop you're killing me, I'll laugh myself to death!

..okay, there are parents out there who bother themselves to actually raise their kids, rather than expect their school, their babysitter, or the government, or Netflix for that matter, but sadly there are plenty of 'parents' out there who can't be bothered at all, and they'll sue a company like Netflix for not d

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[OrangeTide]

That's right, you must be a responsible parent. Raise them right, keep them under constant supervision. If you need to step out of the family room to work in your home office, best to chain your kids to the wall and put the babies in a cage. Don't be one of those irresponsible parents that can't keep their kids under control.

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[nomadic]

The "if you instruct children properly they will always do what you tell them to do" crowd is not the craziest one on the internet (that probably goes to the QAnon crowd) but they are certainly up there.

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[Rick Schumann]

Gee whiz mister nomadic, I guess it's just sheer blind luck that there are parents out there whose kids actually respect them, are taught the value of trust, who act responsibly, and respect the wishes of their parents. I guess all kids are just dirty little animals who have to be caged and on a leash until they're 25 because otherwise they'll throw their poop at random people and generally run amok, completely out of control, and dont' achieve actual sentience until age 25, when, like a light switch being

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[OrangeTide]

are taught the value of trust, who act responsibly, and respect the wishes of their parents.

Flawless execution of good upright behavior is quite rare. even good kids slip up (see below). A badly behaved child is a child who misbehaves constantly, and that's not what we're talking about.

known people over the course of my life who had kids who were intelligent, thoughtful, decently behaved, and who grew up to be good, responsible, intelligent, productive adults.

That's beautiful man. Really. A very wonderful way to see the world.

Have you never known any families like that? No?

Yes, when I was a kid I managed to corrupt upstanding youth towards my anarchist values. I even had a few religious kids who started asking adults pointed questions about God. Those families didn't like me and a few forbid their kids from hanging ou

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[nomadic]

Oh please, I was a good, obedient kid and there were plenty of ways I disobeyed my parents.

"had kids who were intelligent, thoughtful, decently behaved, and who grew up to be good, responsible, intelligent, productive adults"

Are you on crack? You think intelligent, thoughtful, decently behaved kids who grow up to be good, responsible, intelligent, productive adults don't also disobey their parents sometimes?

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[OrangeTide]

I'm more worried about a preschooler innocently wandering into something than with a tween actively circumventing a system. If you're old enough to cheat and lie, you're probably old enough for anything on Netflix.

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[quenda]

I've never personally understood the need for trying to enforce such things.
When try to teach my kids about birds and bees, it's "eww gross", and if there is a sex scene in a movie I have to tell them to uncover their eyes when it is over.
And by "sex" I mean passionate kissing even.
What is there on Netflix that could possibly corrupt the kids? When they get old enough to want to see that sort of thing, I'd rather it be some explicit movie on Netflix, than Pornub.
(and maybe they are already, when I'm not

Damn I just have to say this

[Malays2 bowman]

parent: "I'll let you have access to the Neftlix"
kid: "Yes!" O,_,O
Parent "BUT! I am going to restrict what you can watch"
(types in password, creates whitelist)

Kid only sees Teletubbies and Babysongs- +_+

(yes, I really did rip of a Windows 95 era commercial for M$ parental control software)

Finally! I can now apply a blacklist to myself...

[devslash0]

...to hide crap I don't ever to see. I've been waiting for this feature for years.

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[devslash0]

Also, I'll now be able to permanently hide titles I have already watched. Brilliant.

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[WallyL]

Great idea! But eventually the remaining content will drop to zero, at some point.

Teaching them totalitarian oppression alright.

[BAReFO0t]

Listen, there are only two types of kids:
1. Those too young for sexual desires... They are by nature not interested in porn.
2. Those interested in porn ... because they are old enough for sexual desires, and not really only kids anymore.

I know that for me, falling in love and masturbation* naturally started at 7, then attraction to girls at 12.

So blocking porn access is pointless, and literally only exists to appeal to loudly yelling Catholiban** child abusers to compensate their self-hatred. (**Actually co