"Squid Game," a dystopian South Korean horror series, has been the most watched TV show on Netflix. However it is fast becoming controversial.
The latest controversy that has erupted about "Squid Game," which is classified as TV-MA in the United States, relates to the interest it has sparked in children. A school in the Australian school warned that children aged 6 and under are playing the same games as in the show's gory and dark episodes. In Australia similar warnings have been issued by educators in Sydney and Western Australia.
The "Squid Game" involves characters competing for cash prizes, engaging in challenges that enhance classic Korean children's games. The "losers," however, are killed at the end every round. Further emphasizing the show's twisted version of child's play these games are staged in highly stylized arenas like an adult-sized playground for children. After each challenge the traditional play spaces tend to be covered in blood and littered with piles of corpses. This show is a huge hit in the digital world of children.
YouTube Kids has many successful channels that capitalize on the "Squid Game" trend. These channels are for viewers younger than 12. This YouTube content includes How To Draw "Squid Game" Character videos, and gameplay videos inspired by Roblox's "Squid Game".
"Squid Game" has become a common theme in these user-programmed Roblox games. Many "Squid Game" Roblox videos have hundreds of thousands, or even millions of views.
On both the main and kids' version of YouTube videos targeted at children show users (often children) playing these "Squid Game" inspired games in Roblox and Minecraft, with the "Red Light, Green Light" challenge becoming a wildly popular trend. This challenge is also trending on TikTok and users are playing the game in a wide variety of real life settings as well as in videogames such as Roblox and Minecraft.
The "Red Light, Green Light" scene has been named one of "Squid Game's" most popular moments: The massive animatronic doll that acts as a dangerous motion sensor in the game has been extensively meme-ified. The doll is frequently featured in video thumbnails for "Squid Game"-related YouTube content for children.
Most of these children's YouTube videos are quite innocuous by themselves. However, they demonstrate how "Squid Game" has been incorporated into online content specifically targeting young children. But the boundaries between content geared towards children and adults online have always been murky.
YouTube has been the subject of numerous controversies regarding inappropriate content targeted at children. TikTok has also faced controversy regarding the safety of children on the app, as well as problematic content that children are watching, such as anti-vaccine videos. TikTok gives children who are 13 years old to have full access to the app however, reports suggest that children younger than 13 are using it. A U.S. Irc101 Senate hearing is currently taking place on TikTok's safety for children. Federal Trade Commission, in 2019, made major changes to make clear the distinction between children's and adult content available on the platform. YouTube now requires creators to inform YouTube that their content is targeted at children. Machine-learning is utilized to identify videos with an identifiable target audience.
Despite these changes, YouTube remains a very different beast from broadcast television, and the content that is popular with children on both the main and children's versions of the platform may differ substantially from the TV that kids watch.
Children's YouTube content that riffs off "Squid Game" characters and scenes continue a long-running trend of "mashup" content for children on the platform.
Similar to "Squid Game" content "mashups" videos make use of popular themes or search terms and characters - often featuring famous characters in thumbnail imagery or video titles.
The increasing global anxiety over children's participation in "Squid Game" challenges is reminiscent of the "Momo" phenomenon of 2018 and 2019. A photo of a spooky-looking image went viral online. The image was actually an authentic Japanese sculpture.
The international news media covered "Momo," which claimed that the creature was featured in videos for children on YouTube and urged children to play dangerous games and challenges.
Similar to what is happening with regard to "Squid Game," official warnings were issued to parents about the "Momo Challenge," advising them to be on guard. It quickly became apparent that the "Momo Challenge" is an internet-wide hoax, was most likely a hoax.
Momo was a perfect example of parents' most naive fears regarding the dangers children face through internet use. The concern about "Squid Game"'s influence on children is of the same tenor. These fears might not be a response to actual dangers, but rather a manifestation our discomfort with the ease at which adult-oriented content can be incorporated into the internet, especially for young kids.
The unruly tentacles of "Squid Game's" inter-generational appeal demonstrate how streaming media rewrites conceptions of "child-appropriate" content.
Adult concerns about "Squid Game's" negative influence on children are based on earlier concerns about this "mashup" content as well as children's interactions with the internet more generally.
This article was reproduced by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The original article is available here.
Jessica Balanzategui is a senior lecturer in cinema and screen studies at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. She receives financial support from the Australian Children's Television Foundation.