How we do this
Every review on this site is produced the same way. This page describes that process, including the parts of it that are weak.
What we examine
- Channel title and description from the YouTube Data API.
- Titles, descriptions, and thumbnail images of the sampled videos.
- What is said in the videos, where we are able to access it.
How videos are selected
- Up to 10 of a channel's videos are analyzed for each review.
- Videos our screening has already flagged are always included; the rest are spread across the channel rather than taken only from the newest uploads.
- The selection is fixed per channel, so re-running a review examines the same videos and the result can be compared with the last one.
- The exact counts appear on every review under coverage. A channel with thousands of videos is described from that sample alone.
What is said in a video, and when we cannot hear it
- We can often, but not always, access what is said in a video.
- Where we cannot, the review says so and the finding rests on the title, description, and thumbnail instead.
- A gap is never treated as evidence that nothing was said.
- Every finding records what it rests on, so a claim grounded in what was said is distinguishable from one based only on a thumbnail.
What AI can and cannot detect
- Analysis is performed by an AI model. ScreenMyYouTuber publishes the conclusions in its own voice and says so on every review.
- The model reads text and still images. It does not watch video or listen to audio.
- It can miss context, misread humour and tone, and be wrong with confidence.
- No review is a safety guarantee, and none replaces an adult watching alongside a child.
What each dimension means
- Language
- Swearing, insults, and crude language.
- Violence
- Fighting, injury, weapons, and threat.
- Horror
- Fear, dread, jump scares, and disturbing imagery.
- Mature themes
- Sexual, romantic, or otherwise adult subject matter.
- Bullying
- Mockery, exclusion, humiliation, and cruelty.
- Commercial pressure
- Selling, undisclosed promotion, gambling mechanics, and scams.
- External contact
- Pushes viewers to chat, message, or meet somewhere off-platform.
- Adult activities
- Alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, and driving.
- Medical body horror
- Injections, surgery, injury detail, and body distortion.
- Stimulation
- Pace, loudness, and sensory intensity. High is not unsafe, but it is worth knowing before bedtime viewing.
- Impersonation
- Presents itself as a channel, brand, or creator it is not. A copy of a well-known name is often a different operator entirely, so the reputation a parent is relying on does not apply.
- Synthetic media descriptive
- How much of this appears machine-generated rather than filmed or drawn by a person. Not a risk on its own, but AI-generated channels can publish at a volume no one is reviewing.
- Educational value descriptive
- Whether the channel teaches something. Descriptive, not a risk — a high level here is positive.
- Consistency descriptive
- How alike the sampled videos are. Descriptive, not a risk — high means the sample predicts the rest of the channel well.
What the levels mean
- None found
- Nothing in the sample raised this dimension. Not a guarantee it is absent from the channel.
- Low
- Present occasionally or mildly in the sample.
- Moderate
- Present enough in the sample to be worth knowing about in advance.
- High
- A prominent feature of the sample.
Confidence is the model's own reported certainty in a finding, not a measure of how accurate it turned out to be.
What the research states mean
- Not analyzed yet
- No analysis has been run on this channel yet.
- Videos screened
- Individual videos have been screened, but no channel review has been written yet.
- Analyzing
- An analysis is running. No review yet.
- Full review
- An analysis completed and this review reflects it.
- Analysis unavailable
- The most recent analysis did not complete and no earlier review exists.
- Stale
- A published review exists, but a newer run is open, failed, or the review is older than the freshness target.
- Withdrawn
- The review has been withdrawn, or the source channel is gone.
Coverage and freshness
- Every review states when it was produced.
- A review older than 90 days is marked stale.
- Channels change. A review describes the sample at the time it ran, not the channel forever.
YouTube's data and our conclusions
- Channel and video titles, descriptions, thumbnails, and statistics come from YouTube.
- Summaries, age guidance, risk findings, and limitations are ScreenMyYouTuber conclusions drawn from that data.
- ScreenMyYouTuber does not host or play video. Links open YouTube directly.
How to dispute a review
If you represent a channel and believe a review is wrong, contact us and we will re-examine it. A review can be withdrawn from publication immediately on request while that happens.