Child Influencers, Child Labor: Why Regulation Could Be Coming – By Katie Collins (CNET) / Aug 8, 2022
Lawmakers worldwide have been slow to react to the growing trend of children working in social media, leaving it up to parents to protect their kids.
Goofing around in front of a camera while your parents offer encouraging words and smiles is something that pretty much all 21st century kids do. For most kids, this is just part of playtime. But for a small number of young influencers on Instagram or TikTok, this is work.
For these children, their entire lives actually become content – even the most intimate, least photogenic moments. It’s become known as “commercial sharenting,” said Leah Plunkett, author of the book Sharenthood and an assistant dean at Harvard Law School.
“The distinguishing factor around the paid influencer community is the attempt to monetize these private, in some cases very intimate experiences,” she said in an interview last month.
The number of child influencers has exploded in the last few years, driven by stars such as 10-year-old Ryan Kaji of Ryan’s World, who boasts 33 million YouTube subscribers and his own line of toys. This represents a growing niche of social media that hits a specific audience, attracting big advertising dollars. Some parents, eager to get into this game, have brought their children along for the ride.
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