By the age of 5, the average child will have about 1,500 photos of them uploaded online without their consent. Influencers who claim to show a family’s candid moments and offer authentic parenting tips, “momfluencers,” may do so at the expense of their child(ren).
Chris McKenna, the founder of Protect Young Eyes, says it’s OK for parents to share best practices for parenting, but featuring children in online content always introduces a risk.
“Whether an influencer or not, any time we share information about our family, we share information with thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who we really don’t know,” McKenna says. “What that does is that forces our children to inherit a digital footprint that they have no say in creating.”
Although toddlers’ comments can often be funny and families share wholesome moments to fondly reminisce on, some content can cross the line into private details—potty training, misbehaviors, illnesses and puberty—that is shared with anyone with internet access, which can be embarrassing for these kids.
These kids may have intimate details of their home lives posted on YouTube and face potential bullying at school, or worse yet, their images can be turned into content for those with more nefarious intentions.
McKenna warns that modern technology is so advanced that users can create “deepfakes,” or digitally manipulated content, of anyone’s image online using artificial intelligence. All it takes is one app.
And child sexual material is more common than one might think: “The internet is inundated with that content now; thousands and thousands and thousands of pictures.”
“Do we want our children to be the potential victims of nonconsensual child sexual abuse material that is shared frequently on the internet among bad actors because we as parents decided to put our child’s picture online?” McKenna asks. “That’s the reality that every parent has to ask.”
Some advocates against child labor have also spoken out against parent influencing, viewing the daily filming as unpaid work.
An Illinois law that went into effect in July mandates that parent influencers compensate their children for appearing in content. Minnesota and California both followed suit. Illinois’ law ensures that children aged 16 and younger be compensated if, within a 30-day period, they are in at least 30% of a video or online content for which the parent influencer is being paid.
Minnesota’s law is similar, but requires that children younger than 14 receive 100% of the proceeds. It also mandates that online content be deleted if requested by a minor age 13 or older who appears in it, or by an adult who was younger than 18 when they appeared in the content. This law will go into effect in July 2025.
McKenna adds that in addition to the potential misuse of child content by bad actors online, family vlogging or “sharenting” too often can set an example regarding technology use for an influencer’s child. Children are observing parents who are constantly on their cell phones or in front of a camera for hours a day, and believe this is the norm.
“We, probably, as parents, don’t want our kids on their devices all the time,” McKenna says.
“At the end of the day, parent influencers have to ask themselves, ‘Who is this really for? Is this really to benefit society and to show society good ways to parent? Or is it to stoke your ego and to make you feel better?’” McKenna says. “Check your motivations.”
Everything we do online is a risk, McKenna adds. He hopes that every family will take a careful look at what they’re choosing to share online before becoming a parent influencer.
Tips on what not to share online:
- Your child’s birthday
- The name of your child’s school—be careful with back-to-school photos!
- Your home address
- Any personally identifiable information
