James R | On 17, Mar 2019

As YouTube and social media companies come under growing pressure to protect young users from harmful or inappropriate content, Sky is launching its own child-friendly version of Sky Q, with Kids Safe Mode.

Kids Safe Mode will provide Sky Q customers with a safe space for kids to watch child-friendly TV at home. The new setting will allow parents to lock their Sky Q box in the Kids section, by selecting the setting and entering their TV PIN. Once activated, all non-kids’ content including live TV channels, recordings, on-demand shows and apps, will be blocked, meaning that little ones will only be able to see and explore content (up to the age 12) that is just for them. Kids Safe Mode will still be enabled after switching your box on from standby, re-boot or power failure.

Kids Safe Mode will also be joined by a new parents’ guide set to launch later this year from Sky and Common Sense Media to help parents make more informed choices about what their children watch. It joins Sky’s existing tools, such as Sky Broadband Shield, a free tool that allows users to filter which websites are seen in the home, and Sky Kids App, a dedicated streaming service where kids can watch their favourite shows and play games in a child-friendly environment, and other parental control settings (Sky’s Family setting is on by default, helping to protect younger viewers from inappropriate content). Customers can also ensure any movies over a certain rating are PIN protected automatically and PIN protect specific recordings with the ‘Lock’ function.

Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive UK & Ireland comments: “At Sky, we go further than anyone else to ensure we put families first when developing our services. Sky Q’s new Kids Safe Mode is a super simple way for parents to have ultimate peace of mind when their children are watching TV.”

Kids Safe Mode will roll out to Sky Q customers from this Spring.

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