Children come across various media items online, many of which are selected by recommender systems (RS) primarily designed for adults. The specific nature of the content selected by RS to display on online platforms used by children - although not necessarily targeting them as a user base - remains largely unknown. This raises questions about whether such content is appropriate given children's vulnerable stages of development and the potential risks to their well-being. In this position paper, we reflect on the relationship between RS and children, emphasizing the possible adverse effects of the content this user group might be exposed to online. As a step towards fostering safer interactions for children in online environments, we advocate for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to undertake a more comprehensive examination of the impact of RS on children - one focused on harms. This would result in a more holistic understanding that could inform the design and deployment of strategies that would better suit children's needs and preferences while actively mitigating the potential harm posed by RS; acknowledging that identifying and addressing these harms is complex and multifaceted.

翻译：儿童在网络上会遇到各种媒体内容，其中许多是由主要为成人设计的推荐系统（RS）选择的。推荐系统在儿童使用的在线平台上展示的内容的具体性质——尽管这些平台并非必然以儿童为目标用户群体——在很大程度上仍不为人所知。这引发了一个问题：鉴于儿童处于脆弱的发展阶段，以及这些内容对其福祉的潜在风险，此类内容是否合适。在这篇立场论文中，我们反思了推荐系统与儿童之间的关系，强调了这一用户群体可能在网络上接触到的内容可能带来的不良影响。作为促进儿童在网络环境中更安全互动的一步，我们倡导研究人员、从业者和政策制定者对推荐系统对儿童的影响进行更全面的审视——一个聚焦于危害的审视。这将带来一种更整体的理解，从而能够为设计和部署更适合儿童需求与偏好的策略提供信息，同时主动减轻推荐系统可能造成的危害；并认识到识别和应对这些危害是复杂且多层面的。