Salon.com: When it comes to sharing content of children on social media – particularly via sponsored posts and brand deals – what's legal isn't always what's ethical.
Influencer Brittany Dawn, who initially gained a following for her fitness workouts before pivoting to religious content, recently came under fire for monetizing her foster child on social media.
7 comments:
This is a conversation that I am very glad is happening now but is by no means a new phenomena. Before the real explosion of internet personalities and celebrity children were exploited all the time by shows like “18 kids and counting” “John and Kate plus eight” “Honey booboo” “Dance Moms” and so many more. This is not an internet specific problem just a problem most clearly and often flaunted by the internet. Recently, we have seen many children who grew up being filmed in reality tv shows come out to talk about their experiences and how miserable it was and still is. It is commendable that the Coogan act was put in place to protect children in traditional media but it does not cover everything that it must and the world moves far too fast nowadays for the government to stagnate on proper labor legislation around child labor, by the time it is updated to include the internet and reality television there will be some new type of entertainment that exploits children that will not be covered.
This topic of the protections of child actors and children who appear on social media is one that I find very interesting and have never thought about before. It’s a hard ethical dilemma about how to treat children who are on social media with such a large presence. It’s one thing when a child actively wants to participate in that kind of lifestyle, wants to be active on social media, and knows what the consequences of doing it are. If a child knows what they’re getting into and makes that decision consciously, I believe there is a way it can be considered as ethical. However, for children who don’t fully know what they are getting into, don’t know the consequences, are pushed into doing it by their parents, and don’t see the money they earn themselves, it becomes a much different issue. I think that laws definitely need to be passed to protect children in these situations but there needs to be a lot of discussion as to how to do it.
With the growth of Youtube, Tik Tok and Instagram and the use of kids on these platforms for a source of entertainment and monetization, I agree that the Coogan act needs to be updated to include Influencers and the children of influencers who are featured in content. No one wants the embarrassing moments and tantrums when there were 8 immortalized on the internet forever and young children often don’t understand the consequences that can come from having videos of yourself up on the internet. I believe that the Coogan act needs to be updated to include financially protecting influences who are minors, however one of the road bumps in the way to updating this act is unlike in film where the child is being paid for the child's work often in social media adults are also featured in content, edit and manage accounts. I believe that financial protections for influencers is achievable in an ethical manner , however and conversation would need to be had between child experts and the entertainment industry to make those changes possible.
Theo
The topic of children's protection on social media does not get talked about enough. I’m glad this article has brought up such a sensitive yet overlooked issue that is so common, now that the Internet is everywhere all the time. Obviously, I don’t relate on a personal level, but I can see how it could potentially be dangerous and problem-inducing for influencers’ children. The “phenomenon” that the article describes can be found almost everywhere on the internet. I’ve seen at least 20 different bloggers who went from beauty bloggers to lifestyle bloggers and then to parenting bloggers. While I’ve seen the audience commenting that they don’t want to see the kids in the videos, I’ve never seen anyone pointing out the fact that the kids shouldn’t be filmed under child protection laws. Although the Coogan is outdated, I think it can still serve as a good starting point for further enforcement and regulation. I also wish that this topic is discussed internationally because this ‘phenomenon’ definitely appears outside of the US too.
I definitely think that this is something that needs to be addressed. One of the reasons I think this is because kids just do not have a full picture of how this could affect them later on in life. I also just do not understand how parents can be okay with using videos of or about their children to gain followers on social media, especially since you do not know who is watching this content. It just seems like there has got to be better options for these parents and that they might not be thinking it through all the way before posting this content. Other than that, of course there is the case of financial gain from the content that these parents are making with their children and how that should be dealt with, whether parents should be required to put the money they gain aside for the children or not. It is all just a really odd thing that has started within the past 10ish years.
There is a handful now of kids old enough to exercise personal autonomy - It will be interesting when this comes in a wave, because a lot of influencers currently have children around the same age. (And on that note, what age is that? And how young can/should it be?). I can think of multiple channels that would fall under this potential Act. I think of a particular video where parents chastise their child on camera, and furthermore, show his punishment, which is them trashing his room for him to clean up. What’s “too personal” to post publicly isn’t necessarily agreed upon, and those blurred lines allow for this kind of content. Here’s what’s also interesting. If you’re hired as a child actor, you are being paid for your specific job requirements - the article refers to this as “traditional entertainment.” For influencers, is it expected to divvy up the revenue of your entire video so your 9-year-old gets a "cut"? Also, there’s a fine line between “featuring” your child and taking advantage of them.
The Anonymous comment here is from Jordan Pincus :)
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