YouTube Raising Live Stream Age Restrictions to 16 Next Month

YouTube is updating its policies to amend the minimum age allowed for live streams on the service. As of July 22, the minimum age required to live stream is being raised to 16 years old.

The company announced the new restrictions via a support post on YouTube Help. YouTube clarifies that creators will need to be 16 years old in order to live stream on the service. However, those between 13 to 15 years of age may appear on camera during a live stream as long as they are visibly accompanied by an adult. “If you are under 16 and would like to participate in a live stream from an account owned by an adult, that adult must be visibly present in the live stream,” YouTube says.

The change in policy reflects the company’s attempt to protect minors within content across the service. YouTube states that users who fail to abide by the changes “may have their live chat disabled and the account may temporarily lose access to live chat or other features.” On X (formerly Twitter), YouTube states that those who are impacted will receive emailed notifications that live streams have been disabled.

In the future, YouTube plans to take stricter actions, including taking down entire live streams and temporarily banning accounts from live streaming. Continually breaking YouTube’s new policies may result in an account termination.

For those who have an active channel but are currently under 16 and would like to continue live streaming, YouTube is allowing minors to give a willing adult access to the channel. This would allow the participating adult to act as an editor, manager, or owner of the channel until the user reaches the age of 16. The adult can then start the live stream while still reaching the audience through the original channel. This feature was previously accessible via the YouTube Live Control room.