Allowing Access to Restricted YouTube With a Content Modification Policy

Summary

In June of 2016, Google officially ended support for YouTube Edu, a feature which allowed controlled access to videos on youtube.com. A number of organizations used this feature to ensure only educational videos could be accessed on YouTube.

YouTube Edu has now been replaced by ‘Restricted YouTube’ which provides a similar locked down YouTube experience but with less emphasis on educational content. The content which is visible in Restricted YouTube is decided upon by Google and relies on members of the YouTube community flagging inappropriate content - however, access to other videos can be granted by Smoothwall or GSuite for Education administrators.

Problem

Once Restricted YouTube has been implemented it will have the following effect on your YouTube experience:

• Unsuitable videos cannot be viewed. Attempting to do so will result in a message informing the user that the video is unavailable.
• Unsuitable videos will be hidden in:
  • Related videos
  • Search results
  • Recommended videos
  • Comments for all videos will be hidden

Restricted YouTube can be implemented in several ways, detailed on the Google support website. In addition, Smoothwall has developed our own content modification which we recommend as the easiest method to implement and manage Restricted YouTube.

Solution

Please note: This solution can be achieved by using three different content modifications. The first content modification discussed below is 'YouTube Restricted Mode - Strict', this is the most appropriate for customers who use GSuite for Education. The second content modification discussed below is the ‘YouTube Restricted Mode - Moderate’, this works very similar to the ‘YouTube Restricted mode - Strict’ content modification, it just offers a larger corpus of videos. The third content modification discussed is 'YouTube SafetyMode Cookie'. This is the most appropriate for customers who do not use GSuite for Education.

Content Modifications

Youtube Restricted mode - Strict

YouTube Restricted Mode - Strict is the recommended method of enforcing Restricted YouTube. This works by rewriting the HTTPS connect header for a number of YouTube domains to restrict.youtube.com. Implementing this content modification does not require a HTTPS decrypt and inspect policy to be in place.

From the Smoothwall administration user interface, create a new content modification policy under Guardian > Content Modifications > Policy Wizard:

• Who: Everyone
• What: YouTube
• Where: Everywhere
• Action: Apply - “YouTube Restricted Mode - Strict”

Using this method will force all users on your network to use Restricted YouTube, regardless of whether they are logged in. The only exception is domain administrators who should continue to have an unrestricted YouTube experience.

Youtube Restricted mode - Moderate

YouTube Restricted Mode - Moderate is very similar to YouTube Restricted Mode - Strict, the differences are referenced here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/6212415. This works by rewriting the HTTPS connect header for a number of YouTube domains to restrictmoderate.youtube.com. Implementing this content modification does not require a HTTPS decrypt and inspect policy to be in place.

From the Smoothwall administration user interface, create a new content modification policy under Guardian > Content Modifications > Policy Wizard:

• Who: Everyone
• What: YouTube
• Where: Everywhere
• Action: Apply - “YouTube Restricted Mode - Moderate”

Using this method will force all users on your network to use Restricted YouTube, regardless of whether they are logged in. The only exception is domain administrators who should continue to have an unrestricted YouTube experience.

Youtube Safetymode Cookie

This content modification works by inserting a cookie that enforces Restricted YouTube. With this method you can still whitelist YouTube videos through the Smoothwall UI and access them even if they are normally blocked under Restricted YouTube. See our knowledge base article, Allowing Access to Specific YouTube videos.

Implementing this content modification does require you to have HTTPS Decrypt and Inspect enabled, see our help topic, Managing HTTPS inspection policies.

From the Smoothwall administration user interface, create a new content modification policy under Guardian > Content Modifications > Policy Wizard:

• Who: Everyone
• What: YouTube
• Where: Everywhere
• Action: Apply - “YouTube SafetyMode Cookie”

Using this method will force all users on your network to use Restricted YouTube, regardless of whether they are logged in. For Admins to have unrestricted access they should change the ‘Who’ to exclude themselves.

Google-side Configuration

Restricted YouTube can be enforced for all users on your domain by changing the appropriate settings on the Google admin console. This only applies to users logged into your domain, Restricted YouTube will not be applied to signed out users.

The highlighted checkbox below must be enabled for the system to work. Other permissions granted via the Google admin console take precedent (for example, domain administrators).

YouTube with G Suite for Education (formally Google Apps for Education) matrix

* Restrictions depend on permissions set on domain account