We’re all guilty of it… Over-sharing. We post pictures online and talk about our daily lives, the milestones of our kids, what we had for dinner and how amazing the weather is… All the time. Social media has created an environment where we over-share freely because we’re giddy with likes, comments, and views on everything going on in our lives.
Pictures of innocent kids being posted by “mommy run accounts” are on the rise of child exploitation on social media. It’s becoming more and more important for the public to learn about child exploitation through social media. This blog post explores what child exploitation is, who the offenders are, how posting your children on social media can be harmful, and how offenders could come in contact with your children.
What is child exploitation?
Many people associate child exploitation with the unlawful engagement of children in sexual activities. However, I will briefly discuss this disturbing behaviour through a different lens.
The act of taking advantage of someone who is unable to stop the violation is known as “exploitation.” A person who takes advantage of another does so for selfish ends. When referring to children, it simply means to profit from their defenceless vulnerability in order to achieve the desired result. The desired result frequently entails monetary gain, together with reputation and fame comparable to celebrity status.
Any parent who takes advantage of their young child, or adolescent is ethically reprehensible, especially those who are highlighted in this narrative. The cruellest kind of parental behaviour is what they do while they are being abusive.
Who are the offenders?
For many children, the exploitation begins in utero, with parents sharing their first ultrasound pictures. From there, parents regularly update their social media following by providing recent photos of their children. Whether it be on their own social media account or on a “mommy run account”.
From the perspective of someone who has worked in the sex industry, Child predators are all around us, even in plain sight. Working in this industry, you meet people from all the dark corners of the world who share unthinkable things with you.
So, while you might not be a big “kidfluencer” or “mommy run account” with millions of followers and think your harmless private instagram account for your child to share updated pictures and videos with extended family members is safe, you are wildly mistaken.
These people don’t only exist on the ‘dark web”, they are the people you least expect. Of Course, you think “it couldn’t happen to me”, but it is your father, cousin, and neighbour. They are just invisible to the outside world, or to those in “civilian” jobs.
If you don’t feel comfortable directly sending pictures of your children to these people who follow, or are friends with you on social media, then why would you post countless pictures of your children online for strangers to see?
How posting your children on social media can be harmful to your children
If you’re reading this, then you know we are the generation of healing and breaking years of “generational trauma”. While many “Mommy run accounts’ ‘ are very aware of what they are doing to their children, others are not.
Below are a few reasons on how posting your child online will affect them negatively in the future.
Consent — privacy and consent (children cannot give informed consent). While your child might enjoy getting their photo taken, critical thinking isn’t developed until the age of 12. A child does not understand the consequences.
Psychological damage — Professionals have already begun treating children who have suffered from social media exploitation. Whether you agree or not, posting a minor on social media is a form of abuse.
Imagine going into your teen years and finding out all your bath time, bedtime, food, outfit or other vulnerable pictures have been plastered all over the internet for millions of strangers to see. A digital footprint can not be erased, and these pictures will be there forever.
Financial gain — stories and evidence has shown that most parents who profit off exploiting their children on social media do not put the money in a separate account for the child when they are of age. Instead, they use it for themselves, in claims that it helps them provide a more comfortable life for their child.
Predators — Behind every photo you take is a metadata description, which is very easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This shows all the specifics of a picture, including time and location of where the photo was taken. There is no way to avoid this.
Child labour — Many stories have come out about children being abused for not wanting to “work” (in this case, take photos or videos) behind closed doors and then being exploited on social media.
Brands are using it as a loophole to work with child influencers, who have no protection from the law.
Cyberbullying — receiving abusive or hurtful messages, images or videos or being excluded or humiliated online by peers. This can lead to feelings of vulnerability, isolation, depression, and anxiety.
Grooming — When a child is given access intentionally or unintentionally to social media at a young age, it makes them vulnerable to grooming.
Grooming is when someone tries to get close to a child in order to sexually exploit them in some way, paedophiles will acquire a child’s trust on online platforms before setting up a face-to-face contact.
These are just a handful of the many reasons it can harm your child when you post them on social media.
How “kidfluencers” are being exploited
The parents of these large “kidfluencer” accounts are very aware of the exploitation they are doing to their children.
Many of the thumbnail pictures often include the child suggestively posing in a bathing suit or dancewear. All in an attempt to clickbait for more views.
These more provocative videos or thumbnails all have an extravagant amount of higher saves and engagement.
Larger “kidfluencer” accounts “run by mom” also have external links on their profile where they sell photos of their children. These pictures are anything from regular activities, bathing suit photos, or even pictures where the child is made up to look older.
The predators who follow these accounts often use certain emojis or codewords in bio, captions or comments to signal to other child predators the type of content they repost.
There is no doubt these parents know who their target audience is. It does not take an expert to take one look at these children based accounts and see all the uneasy comments of grown men complimenting toddlers and minors.
How can you stop child exploitation through social media
While it can be entertaining to watch these harmless cute videos of kid based accounts, it is adding fuel to the fire by encouraging minor accounts to grow on social media and reach a larger community.
So, do your part and unfollow and report these “mommy run accounts”.
There is a good reason why social media platforms have an age restriction.
You can also educate people in your daily life, how posting children on social media can be harmful, as there are many parents out there who are oblivious to the potential consequences for the child’s online safety.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash