Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a game which is available from the Roku Channel Store and the Amazon Fire TV Store. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
The avatar for this channel is Jeffo himself, smiling at the camera against a brightly colored background that contrasts with his blue hair. The video preview pictures which accompany the listing are all appealing to young children, with bright action shots, a mixture of real photos, and cartoon characters with high contrast, colorful effects.
The channel has over 500 videos based on different aspects of playing Roblox. The videos cover a range of subjects including gaming walkthroughs and challenges. Titles generally follow the format of EXCITING THING in capital letters designed to build anticipation. For example, “OPENING 100 *PREMIUM* Gorilla Boxes To Get Every *GORILLA DREAM PET* In Adopt Me Roblox (EXPENSIVE)”
Roblox itself is an experience aimed at children and Jeffo’s channel continues.
Each video preview has special effects and vibrant animated overlays which add to their visual appeal.
At the time of writing, Jeffo has 1.76m subscribers on his YouTube channel. This means he is likely to be pretty well known among children who play Roblox a lot.
On the Roku Channel page, the app description stated that Jeffo “explores updates, trading challenges, reactions, pranks and more. Jeffo’s love for Roblox and thoughtful storytelling keeps the fun going and fans of all ages engaged!” In light of the aspects explored here, it seems likely that the channel is aimed more at children than a general audience.
Privacy:
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Screenshots of Jeffo - Let’s Play Roblox
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.
