CHALLENGES IN REGULATING VIDEO-SHARING PLATFORMS: ADVERTISING AND MINORS

New technologies are changing the way we interact with information. Those who used to be mere spectators who stood in front of the device and consumed standard content can now choose what to watch and when to do so, thanks, among other platforms, to video sharing platforms. This new form of business allows users (including minors) to access entertainment - and also commercial - content online, without having to stick to a specific schedule. In principle, this may seem a great advantage - it certainly is - but it entails certain problems when it comes to establishing effective protection mechanisms for minors. Thus, the traditional way of protecting children and adolescents from inappropriate content for them was basically to establish protection time slots in which this type of content was forbidden. Today these mechanisms are -obviously-ineffective and it is necessary to find new formulas to guarantee the protection of children, not an easy task but one that all the laws that regulate the digital field include. In this paper we will approach the content of digital video sharing platforms, we will expose the limitations that the law imposes on these platforms in terms of advertising and we will see what content should protect children and adolescents. Based on the assumption that the existing mechanisms for them are ineffective (age classification, establishment of protection time slots, certain parental controls, etc.), we will explore new proposals in this regard.