Channels & viewing

[Ekwillis]

I have a young child who was pretty disturbed by this image that was very prominately displayed on the vudu ad that takes up the right third of the roku home screen. Now she doesn’t want me to turn on the tv at all because she was so spooked by it. It is becoming harder and harder for parents to have control of what are children are exposed to which is a big reason I depend on streaming content in the first place. I’d be more forgiving if this was displayed late at night, but this was in the middle of the day, and right on the roku home screen ad space which I have no control over!

[DBDukes]

@RokuDanny-R @RokuMary-F @RokuKariza-D 

[Alex-Roku]

Hey @Ekwillis, we saw your post and wanted to let you know we will be reaching out privately to clarify a couple of details and investigate. We understand how frustrating this can be, especially with small children in the house. We've escalated this issue to our internal team and would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention. We appreciate and hear your concerns. In the meantime, if there's anything else we can help with, please don't hesitate to reach out.

[Vakko]

@Ekwillis It is a movie promotion screen (poster). You see the same thing when you go into a movie theater. You see it on billboards. There is no way to filter things on Roku. Roku does not know the age of viewers. There is no "kid mode". 

[Ekwillis]

I’m not in a movie theater, I’m in my home. I should be able to turn on my tv to a roku home screen without freaking my child out. Roku should assume that there are people of all ages (including 4 year olds) who will see the content of the Roku home screen in the middle of the day. 

[Vakko]

@Ekwillis  Roku does not have parental controls. So only kids watch tv during the day? It’s a movies poster. You see scarier Halloween masks. So your kids don’t go trick or treating? 

[Ekwillis]

@Vakko Are you serious? She’s 4, so her Halloween experience so far has been visiting a few neighbor’s houses dressed as a butterfly. I’m not signing into Netflix or Hbomax and complaining about movie images I see in those apps. I’m talking about the Roku home screen.  I’m fully aware that adult-centric content is everywhere, which is why I use parental controls wherever I can. This is a situation where a little kid is hanging out with her mom in her home trying to get to her favorite movie on Disney+ without having the **bleep** scared out of her first.  As you stated, Roku provides no way to filter this which is precisely my point of frustration. 

[Vakko]

@Ekwillis  I have 3 kids. All of which are now in their 20’s. Roku doesn’t have parental controls. It cannot tell who’s sitting in front of the TV. Companies pay Roku to promote there channels. Vudu paid Roku to advertise there service and promote a movie. Please do tell how a Roku streaming device is supposed to know a 4 year old is watching TV? There is nothing you can do about it. It’s a movie poster. It is not illegal or against any FCC violation 

[Michelle3]

Some kid movies on Disney+ like Lady and the Tramp, Dumbo and The Aristocats don’t even have a “kid mode,” instead they contain a warning about depictions and stuff at the beginning, due to certain reasons.  E.G. Lady and the Tramp’s warning on Disney+ is due to one of the scenes containing Siamese cats, and Dumbo’s warning is due to a Jim Crow scene on there.  Song of the South isn’t even on Disney+ and will never be, because it has been banned in most countries since November 2001, 55 years after its initial release in theaters in 1946, due to its African American portrayal being considered offensive.

~ Jordan

[Ekwillis]

@VakkoSo we agree, Roku clearly needs a kid mode.