This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Jeanny Sánchez Gómez. Find them on Instagram at @jeanny_sanchez. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: This includes descriptions of child sexual abuse.
Whether you have a child in your life, related or otherwise, or have encountered all the online controversy about children influencers, something never seems right about seeing adults posting children online.
While I do not have a child of my own, I have worked in childcare centers and as a nanny for the past four years. I also have the most high-energy godson, who probably gets told he’s the most handsome little boy more often than anything else, whether it’s from family or strangers on the street. Being a protective aunt, it rubs me the wrong way when strangers will take it a step further and try to touch his cheeks. While this might seem normal to a lot of older adults, and I grew up experiencing the same, societal norms have changed as I’ve gotten older, and as more cases of child abuse are seen in the news every day, it’s harder to let things like this slide.
So, if you’re like me and think it’s weird when a stranger on the street tries to approach a child, why does this behavior suddenly seem okay when it happens to children online?
When people think of child abuse victims, their first thoughts are never aimed at kids who are being posted online by their parents. We think of kids who were taken advantage of by the adults around them. Yet, in the age of influencers and social media fame, many parents decide to create these accounts for their kids because it’s seen as an easy avenue to make money for their children’s future, making kidfluencers an easy target for online predators.
These seemingly innocent accounts dedicated to a child’s day-to-day activities, like what toys they’re playing with, modeling for children’s clothing brands, or just “cute” photos, gain thousands of followers. The New York Times discovered that about 2 million of these followers are adult males spread among 5,000 child influencer accounts. If this statistic doesn’t give you hives, it should because that is only the beginning of this problem.
Predators
As The Times discovered, child influencer accounts had a majority male adult following, and they dove deeper. They found that the same followers would message in apps like Telegram, where they would say things like “It’s like a candy store 😍😍😍,” or “God bless instamoms 🙌.” Many found that reporting these accounts showing predatory behavior usually led nowhere, as social media platforms tend not to do anything or even ignore the messages, creating a space where these predators then felt safe enough to continue their actions.
When PBS spoke with New York Times reporter Michael Keller, one of the reporters on the investigation, who found that in many situations, these predators would try to blackmail the families in order to get suggestive photos, “we heard stories of strange packages showing up at people’s doors, and could go from the online world into real life and affect your family.” It goes beyond just being an issue you can deal with by (unsuccessfully) blocking an account.
Exploitation
Despite the innocent thought they put into creating these accounts for their kids, what they think is seen as a normal picture to them can be seen differently by predators. Paired with the lucrative amount of money these accounts can make, it might be easy for them to pay no attention to the situation. But does avoiding the truth really help these parents prevent the guilt of what happens once their kid’s photo’skids’ photos are posted?
Aside from providing pedophile material, these accounts are still a version of child labor, which until recently didn’t seem to be much of an issue. Last year, California Governor Gavin Newson signed new legislation to protect children who perform or are otherwise featured in online content. While this went viral on TikTok as people theorized that this law was the reason why family vloggers were moving out of the state, it’s important to note that these protections are only just starting.
Abusive/Neglectful parents
Taking a step back, like the TikTok mentioned above, some of these kidfluencers or wannabe influencer accounts just show neglectful behavior from parents focused on monetizing content instead of taking care of their child. Aside from putting kids into dangerous situations for the views, a study found that parents constantly being on their phones leads to lower emotional intelligence, hindering these kids’ development.
On a more physical note, there have also been cases of parents intentionally harming their children and using their platforms as a way to justify these actions. The 8 passengers and the Ruby Franke and Jody Hildebrand case is a prime example of this kind of situation. A family vlogging channel on YouTube, over the years, so many instances of abuse have surfaced, leaving viewers to dissect their content, looking for clues as to how they could’ve missed this happening. Personally, I found this to be a very telling way of how abuse tends to happen every day around us and can be kept easily hidden. Filming their days and editing their lives for online viewership makes it easier for these adults to get away with this.
With Netflix releasing a documentary about a similar situation, this time about momager Tiffany Smith, who formed The Squad, more and more attention is shining on all the toxic aspects of the kidfluencer life.
As we become more aware of the pitfalls of children’s influencers’ accounts, how much responsibility falls on the parents for how far their kids post? Will it stay a murky line of pretending it’s not as bad as it seems, or will more laws be put in place to protect kids online? Many parents are just excited to share the cute milestones their babies reach, but with the lack of accountability on social media sites, is it possible for any content that includes children to be completely safe?
So, where do you draw the line when posting children online? Leave a comment below to let us know!
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