The Hidden Depravities of Kidfluencing: A Children’s Rights Issue

Many child-related issues receive ample attention and forms of action; however, the issue of kidfluencers has mainly gone unnoticed despite it occurring in front of our eyes. 'Kidfluencer' is a term that describes a child who is on social media platforms with a significant following and who is posted in video content (Suleiman, 2022). This paper will focus primarily on kidfluencers who post content on the social media platform called YouTube but will also include mention of TikTok and Instagram. Two kinds of kidfluencer channels will be examined: non-vlogging channels that focus primarily on the kidfluencers with limited to no parental figure interaction and family vlogging channels where there is some parental involvement but most attention is on the kidfluencers. The reason that kidfluencers are a cause for concern is that there are extensive ethical issues, worries of sexual exploitation, adverse psychological effects, problems associated with monetization and regulation and the forfeiture of a typical childhood. Overall, kidfluencers are a highly vulnerable group and are primarily unprotected from various types of exploitation.