Googles YouTube Kids app, which supposedly narrows down the content available on the live-streaming site to child-friendly clips, has come under fire for including videos containing explicit and sexual language.

Child and consumer advocacy groups have complained to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), claiming that the app contains “inappropriate content” and that videos available through the app included those that would be “extremely disturbing and/or potentially harmful for young children to view.”

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Centre for Digital Democracy (CDD), the two groups behind the claims, have asked the FTC to investigate whether or not Googles marketing claims are deceptive.

The apps entry in the Apple App Store describes it as “Made for Ages 5 and Under”, but the group were able to find content in the app that included jokes about paedophilia and drug use, adult discussions around domestic violence, pornography and suicide, footage of people juggling knives and making nooses, and a video of Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie re-dubbed with explicit dialogue from Martin Scorseses Casino.

“Google is operating in an unfair and deceptive way and weve documented this in a number of cases, so we expect the commission to require Google to change a number of its practices on the app,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the CDD. “This is a digital deja vu – any time theres a new market, the industry wants to push it because there are no rules. And there have to be some rules for children.”

While the laws governing television content and advertising for children are strictly regulated in the US and elsewhere, the Internet remains almost entirely ungoverned, with the exception of the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, which dictates data collection rules for minors.