TikTok celebrity Jacquelyn Paul has curated a following of 17 million people by posting content of her 4-year-old daughter. She posts her daughter eating foods — usually requested by her audience — such as hot dogs and pickles, and shows her daughter dressing like a teenage girl in short crop tops.

Despite ongoing criticisms that she is sexualizing and exploiting her daughter, Paul continues to post these “sharenting” videos.

This is just one example of the many social media accounts that have surfaced in the past few years that continue to exploit children for likes and views.


As social media becomes a more prevalent part of American culture, the exploitation of children is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

A statistic from the University of Pennsylvania Law School finds that, in recent years, so-called “kid influencers” have created an $8 billion social media advertising industry.

This statistic proves that kid influencers and family social media channels have become extremely popular in recent years

The University of Pennsylvania report goes on to note that most popular kid influencers have earned up to $26 million.

Despite the financial gain these children and their families are getting from social media posts, they are potentially being opened up to a world of sexual predators and exploitation.


Additionally, the children themselves typically have no legal right to any of the money that their parents are making, despite being the faces of most of these “family” channels.

An essay by Cherise Charleswell, a public health executive leader, explains that pedophiles will use anything to satisfy their urges, even if it is an innocent video with nonsexual connotations.
 
Therefore, posting videos of children online gives predators the ability to use those videos for whatever they want. Regulating this content is almost impossible, due to the nature of social media and the internet.

Thus, allowing children to be featured on the internet places them in a position where they could be exploited for any number of purposes.

Along with the dangers of posting videos of children online, simply allowing children to have unfiltered access to the internet could put them in danger of being sexually exploited.

Since 1998, the federal Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program has “reviewed 7 million reports of online child exploitation, resulting in the arrest of more than 134,000 people.”

This statistic shows the scale of the problem and the number of children who are affected by sexual exploitation online.

Allowing children to have access to, or be featured on, the internet and social media puts them in danger of being a victim of sexual predators or exploitation. As social media become increasingly prevalent and accessible, the possible consequences for children are also increasing.

https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/the-increasing-exploitation-of-children-on-social-media-column/article_8c881848-e2c1-11ee-a706-1bddd7a6c841.html

 

The increasing exploitation of children on social media [column]