Consumers can and should take steps to protect children online

People love looking at videos of kids on the internet, whether it is for fun, parenting advice or more nefarious reasons. For the protection of those children, stop watching – seriously.

Children are unable to consent to being posted online, they are victims of sexual predation and exploited for money and likes. Child influencers need help, and it is not worth waiting for the government to step in.

The government is late on protecting child influencers, the only glimmer of hope is a recent bill in Illinois that seeks to ensure that at least some of the money generated by children on social media goes to them. The bill essentially has no teeth, the only option is for the child to sue their parent, or whoever is running the account, when they are 18 if they do not receive compensation.

Rather than wait for the government or companies to make unlikely changes, consumers need to take charge and take power away from parents exploiting children. Decreasing views and engagement leads to decreased revenue, leading to decreased incentive to film and post children. Next time you see a child on your feed, scroll by. Eventually, you will be shown less similar content.

While it should not be on the consumer to dictate the experiences of a random child across the country, it is unlikely that regulations will appear anytime soon. States are just now suing Meta for exacerbating the youth mental health crisis and creating addictive features that the company knew could be harmful. Those addictive features have existed since the dawn of social media, regulation is only showing up now. Just like how they are not incentivized to make their app less addictive, companies are not incentivized to protect minors who are featured in videos.

According to the New York Times, there is a wide range of incomes for child influencers, but even small accounts can get about $600 per post, while larger accounts can generate tens of thousands of dollars. Brand deals, ads, sponsorships and more all add up to a big incentive for parents to record their child's every waking (or sleeping) moment to share with strangers online.

Taking away views and support of accounts with kids at the forefront is a doable actionable step that, if done by many people, can change the social media landscape and culture around exploiting children.

Kids are unable to grasp the long-term consequences of their digital footprint, the scope of their audience, and what it means to have their entire upbringing online. Because of their age, they’re not capable of giving meaningful consent. Many former child influencers are now speaking out about how they never wanted to be featured online in the first place but felt pressure to provide economically for their family once their channel became successful.

One anonymous former child influencer spoke to Teen Vogue and said that she is “resentful” of the pressure put on her as a child. Both of her parents left their jobs to pursue YouTube riches full-time, and when she asked to stop being on the channel, her father told her they would have to move and start working again. Another former child star, also anonymous, reached out to a TikToker who has spoken about child safety online and sent a letter detailing her struggles.

“No, I've never been hit but my childhood came with my own trauma. I've been an employee since I was 5 and I hate it,” said the letter, shared through Tiktok.

In 2019, YouTube disabled the comment sections for videos featuring minors because of predatory remarks. On Instagram and TikTok, however, comments are not disabled. Though they can be regulated by the creator, comments that sexualize the child frequently appear anyway.

In the New York Times podcast “First Person,” journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro spoke with Whitney Bjerken about her experience growing up posting family and gymnastics videos on YouTube. As a child, adult men would mail her letters, or even underwear, and leave disturbing comments. She said that it made her feel extremely insecure and began taking control of editing for her channel, which her Dad previously did, and ensuring there was as much training footage and less footage of young gymnasts standing around or stretching. While her channel was aimed at young girls who loved gymnastics, adult men were watching, and her young body is immortalized forever on the internet.

Many child influencers’ entire lives are exploited for clicks. Lines are blurred between life and content; their parents are both their bosses and caretakers.

Imagine if a random stranger had access to the home videos or embarrassing baby photos we hold so near and dear. It is strange to have access to a young person’s life in a way that people have now and if you are on social media under the guise of connecting with friends and family, watching a random baby does not fall under that category. Rather than consuming social media passively, evaluate what you are watching and whether it is enhancing your experience and aligns with your purpose of using social media. There is power in your engagement and your data, use it wisely.