By Chloe Aiello

YouTube, like any social media platform, can be a bit of a dangerous realm for kids.

But Tara Walpert Levy, who leads agency and brand solutions for Google and YouTube, said the platform is doing the best it can to fight bad actors.

"We are using technology and people to constantly be on the lookout for what is new and stay ahead of it, and we are generally extraordinarily successful. But the challenge is in every other area you might say, 'yep, 99 percent successful, I feel good about that.' There's really no incidence that is OK in child safety," Walpert Levy told Cheddar on Friday.

In the past two weeks alone, YouTube has fielded accusations that it hasn't properly curbed use of the platform by pedophiles and has battled rumors that a new viral challenge, which is actually a recurring hoax, is manipulating children into hurting themselves.

On Thursday, YouTube wrote in a blog post it launched a new comments classifier tool to better recognize predatory comments, eliminated "certain channels" determined to be threatening to children, and would disable comments on all videos prominently featuring children 13-years-old or younger.

"We announced yesterday a whole new series of initiatives and tools and solutions that we think are going to address both what popped up last week and also make us even better at anticipating what might be coming down the pike," Walpert Levy said.

The move came after big brands like Nestle and Epic Games announced they had stopped buying ads on YouTube after discovering their ads were being featured on videos that had been overrun by pedophiles in the comments section, The New York Times reported. A video posted by user Matt Watson pointed out the trend, and also noted that YouTube's recommendation algorithm was leading these pedophiles to other videos of children.

The so-called "Momo Challenge" also caused a bit of a stir this week, after a picture of a creepy-looking sculpture went viral, along with a rumor it was popping up in the middle of YouTube videos made for children, and coaxing them to hurt themselves.

"It's referring largely to something that occurred at least on YouTube a long time ago ー at least 18 months ago, " Walpert Levy said. "We have not been able to find any reference whatsoever on the platform today."

A Google spokesperson added that, “contrary to press reports, we’ve not received any recent evidence of videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge on YouTube. Content of this kind would be in violation of our policies and removed immediately."

The challenge has been debunked as a recurring viral hoax by NBC and The Atlantic, but it's disquieting concept ー and an even scarier image ー that only adds to concern YouTube is generally unsafe for kids.

"Over the last 18 months to two years, we have doubled down intensively on investing in both technology and people to ensure that YouTube is as safe as possible for the community. that said we know bad actors are constantly working to come up with new ways and new angles to poke through," Walpert Levy said.

***Hungry for more stories of female representation in business? Cheddar has turned into ChedHER all day Friday in partnership with JPMorgan Chase to focus on stories of women innovators like Tara Walpert Levy. ***

For full interview click here.