The rise of not-safe-for-kids videos that pass as family friendly entertainment on YouTube has seen a spike over the past year. After getting some bad rep from publications such as The New York Times, YouTube is now taking steps against videos such as “PAW PATROL Babies Pretend To Die Suicide By Annabelle Hypnotized Ghost Pranks.”

In a blog post, the online video site notes five steps it will be taking to help remove these strange videos. These include, amongst others, removing ads from inappropriate videos targeting families, tougher enforcement of community guidelines, and providing guidance for creators who make family-friendly content.

While some of the created content might feature family entertainment cartoon characters, they are clearly aimed at adults, with YouTube noting that these will be restricted and will only be viewable by those above 18 years in age and who are signed into the service. YouTube is set to improve the finding of “violative content” through machine learning and other automated tools, which will then be viewed by humans to decide if it will be restricted or not.

YouTube had a busy year trying to fight offensive content, with complaints that ads were being served on violent and pro-terrorist videos, leading the company to take steps in amending its Partner Program.  

The company will also double the amount of Trusted Flaggers - people from around the globe that keenly report violations of YouTube’s community guidelines. Johanna Wright, VP of product management at YouTube, concludes, “We’re wholly committed to addressing these issues and will continue to invest the engineering and human resources needed to get it right. As a parent and as a leader in this organization, I’m determined that we do.”