Even adults find it hard to understand video-sharing platforms' rules often used by kids
Confusion on video sharing rules: Ofcom
The media regulatory body Ofcom has conducted an analysis of six video-sharing platforms, including OnlyFans, Twitch, and Snapchat, revealing that many users would struggle to comprehend their terms and conditions.
The study assessed the accessibility of these platforms' rules and the implications they hold, with outcomes revealing a need for advanced reading skills and an overabundance of complex language difficult for everyday users, reported the BBC.
Impenetrable terms and conditions: A barrier for users
The report indicated that these rules often required sophisticated reading abilities, making them challenging for a substantial portion of users to grasp.
This complexity was further exacerbated by the extensive length of the terms, rendering them inappropriate for younger audiences.
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Jessica Zucker, Ofcom's Online Safety Policy Director who spoke to the BBC, emphasised the importance of clear and unambiguous terms and conditions to ensure the safety of platform users, especially children.
Effective moderation and the reporting of potentially harmful content hinge on the existence of explicit guidelines.
Zucker noted that the study revealed how certain UK video-sharing platforms' cumbersome, convoluted, and sometimes contradictory rules could hinder users and content moderators alike.
Ofcom's assessment unveiled that OnlyFans boasted the lengthiest terms, spanning nearly 16,000 words, which would take over an hour for its adult users to read.
Following suit were Twitch, Snapchat, TikTok, Brand New Tube, and BitChute. The last, with a mere 2,017 words, was the quickest to peruse, requiring only eight minutes for the average adult.
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Terms' readability evaluated
A "reading ease" score was attributed to each platform's terms of service, demonstrating that, apart from TikTok's, the terms were "difficult to read and best understood by high-school graduates."
TikTok's terms were deemed more accessible to users without a university education, yet even they may pose a challenge for the platform's youngest users.
Ofcom's analysis revealed that platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and BitChute employed "clickwrap" agreements, where users implicitly accept the terms upon sign-up. This approach often allows users to agree to the terms without actually engaging with or fully understanding them, as there is no prompting to access and review the rules.
The study also highlighted that users often did not have a clear understanding of the content guidelines on these platforms.
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