That posting children on social media should be banned?

Someone has already mentioned this upthread.
No, of course it wouldn’t extend to this. I would imagine there is far more regulation surrounding children in adverts. And just because it happens, does not mean that every single child should be allowed to be monetised and plastered all over SM for likes

Would the ban extend to using babies/children in adverts? Because surely that's also monetising without consent?

I follow the MLM/network marketing "industry" (pyramid schemes basically). The people involved in MLM are often so desperate for content in order to recruit and sell products that they will seriously compromise their children's safety for engagement.

I have been following one rep who posts her child's every move. From what she has shared in photos and other information she posts it is possible to glean his name, date of birth, home address, see what his bedroom looks like, his school address, grandparents name and address and his love of motorbikes. Her Facebook is entirely open as it's the favoured SM for MLM. He is 6.
This isn't just a privacy concern, it's unsafe.

She isn't the only one who does this in the MLM world. Other privacy compromises are a "humorous" video of a 7 year old boy on the loo, posted by his own mother. A 5 year old girl posing in the shower naked, posted by her own mother to showcase a new bathroom, the sharing of medical correspondence and a child's ASD diagnosis, again, all for engagement, A video of a young child sleeping in his bed. Images of other people's children without their consent or the consent of their parents.

I once attended a CEOP talk about online safety and the journey some innocent images make once they are lifted by the wrong people - terrifying. You can't report any of these images to FB either as they don't violate the rules FB claims to have. So if the parents are attention seeking dullards their children's happiness, privacy and often their safety is totally compromised.

I think you’re right

There has been a few replies on this thread that have been thinly veiled attempts to defend the posting of kids online. Ranging from “nah it’ll never work” (yeah ok, so why bother try right??!) to saying people should be able to do what they like.

My guess is because of them being addicted to the dopamine hit of a ‘like’ on social media
People also use their kids to get attention. Hence hospital bed pics, or pics of poorly children in bed. They see their kids as an extension of their egos and a like for their kids is a like for them.

Yanbu, children need to be able to have control over their own pictures. The fact that they are thrown out to the world is not really fair on them. As you rightly point out some parents exploit their own children to make money, it’s not fair to the child and it smacks of a lack of safeguarding.

I am anti children on SM and never have any of mine. I do use whatsapp though and never understand why people dont use this? It is so common to hear 'my account is private and I use it to share pics with family and friends across the globe'. Why can't you use whatsapp for this? My guess is no public likes...

I deleted all personal social media accounts that involved sharing content with followers when my eldest child was 1, looking back I still regret that first year of his life that I shared a few pictures (probably 5-6 pictures max). I agree with a previous poster who said it will be viewed akin to smoking in the car with a child. It should absolutely be illegal and it could be regulated if there was an appetite for that unfortunately I don’t think there is. Some peoples poor kids can take a sh%^ without it being shared, it’s so invasive.

I agree OP. Kids can't consent, it's as simple as that. I dread to think of the problems that lie ahead for many of these children.

The influencer/blogged types are the worst. I believe some of these parents deliberately use footage and thumbnails to attract the peados too, picture of their kids wearing certain things, posing in certain ways etc, it's too often with some of these families to just be accidental. And if you're a vlogger type, you know more than anyone the risks. These people see their kids as moneymakers and will do anything for views and likes. It should be banned.

Yes, This.

I completely agree. Have you seen the mum uncharted on instagram? She talks about this a lot. It’s so scary.
I follow some SEN accounts but even these make me uncomfortable as the child’s every move is followed and accounted. The ones I follow don’t shows meltdowns or things like that, but still talk about all the everyday things he does and what life is like. I find them comforting because it’s nice to see families in similar situations and get support, but I do wonder if it’s fair on some non verbal child to have had his whole life documented for so many to see. :/

I agree op. It's getting absolutely ridiculous. Some people put their birth experience on YouTube so the child is being filmed for online literally from the very first second of life.

I'm totally against the obsessive and constant social media influencer type families. Although my son got quite into ninja kids and it was a useful teaching experience about how these sorts of videos are often setup up, the stress of being constantly filmed etc.

However, social media can also be a very positive thing. We've been following some of the young paralympic athletes on social media and it's hugely inspirational for my son with disabilities. I've not seen anything I thought was even mildly inappropriate.

How would that work for journalism?

I agree. And I would go one stage further, I don't think ANYONE'S image should be shown on social media without their consent. It would probably end SM but I think that'd be a good thing. The world's gone to shit since SM took off.

I 100% agree, I recommend following @mom.uncharted on Instagram. She's all about this with loads of information.

My kids aren't on social media and it makes my skin crawl how many little ones are being exploited and predators can just follow their every move on their insta accounts their mum's made. So so sad!

Totally agree - I have taken YouTube off our tvs so the kids can't be influenced, but one account my daughter watched (if you have a horse crazy child you'll know which one I mean) where the girl is totally commercialised and exploited by the mother has not long moved house which has obviously been vlogged the hell out of, including which bedroom the child is in and the fact she is ground floor with double doors out to the garden. Just out of sheer nosiness, I was able to find their exact address in about 30 seconds. Obviously I won't be visiting but scary that someone else who could mean her harm could easily find the same info.

I absolutely despise any vlog with kids. How humiliating when you are 14 years old to have stuff on line about your potty training etc. Awful. There is one group of family vloggers dd got into a few years ago who were just vile. The titles of their very innocent videos were full of innuendo - dd obviously didn’t notice but it was pretty obvious that they had titled the videos to get maximum views from horrible internet users.

Agree.

Companies should stop working with influencers who do. it is exploitation for profit in these cases.

I would definitely go for this OP.
Sometimes these difficult decisions have to be made for us - like banning hanging, cigarettes etc etc. People can always shout freedom of choice etc but there's a spiral effect with lots of these things like holiday photos, first day back at school photos etc and it sets an expectation that is hard to refuse- needs both parents on board, plus family, friends etc. I'd much prefer it to be banned until 16 and also ban smartphones for kids until they're 16.
Even talking about it in political circles helps raise awareness of the dangers, which will raise support, but the decision needs to be taken nationally to protect children - parents can't/won't always manage it themselves for a range of reasons.

I think it’s time that all children’s faces were banned from social media till they are 16. The age of having an account should be 16 and social media platforms should be stricter at seeking and banning accounts that posts children’s faces.

I do agree. They cannot consent to it and some of the over sharing from these would-be, and actual, influencers, just for monetary gain, is appalling.

We have an acquaintance who massively exaggerated her daughter's abilities (you can see that through the ballet videos she posts if there's any doubt), and described their so-called misfortunes in detail, to gain money through Go fund me for Hammond theatre arts school (she wasn't good enough to receive money from the second, funding, audition).

It's netted them £110, 000 so far and even though the girl is 16, and at a standard dance college, the begging bowl is still brought out with regularity. She updates social media regularly with trips away that they managed to afford while claiming universal credit.

She was in The Guardian and other national and local newspapers too! The point is that the daughter wasn't able to consent properly and will no doubt look back with embarrassment. We all cringe and dread to think how the daughter will feel when she realises when older and it's still all out there. Her Autism is also mentioned a lot, and her meltdowns have been described in detail, and their poverty - all for sympathy. The go fund me talks about how she wore a second hand leotard for audition, but failed to mention the new custom made tutu, from a famous tutu maker, that she'd managed to afford, worn in other posts.

I understand pictures of children being shared on a private/locked down accounts where the parents can decide exactly who can see those photos. I wouldn't put my children on social media (even on a locked down account) but I can see why others would want to and as long as they properly understand the security on their account I see no issue with it..

Using children on social media to make money (as part of being an influencer) I disagree with. When money is involved sometimes critical thinking goes out of the window. Also it is work and children should not be working, especially at home where they can't escape it

We are now beginning to see the first wave of children of 'family vloggers' to become adults and many have negative things to say. Additionally there is no monetary protection for them, meaning they could have worked for years, had all of their embarrassing moments shared online, been at risk to predators, all for literally nothing.

The problem is there are too many parents out there who can't keep their children safe and do need to be told. Most UK countries have now banned smacking because not banning it means some parents think it's fine to assault little children. We absolutely do need laws to protect children because there are a lot of thick parents out there.

I completely agree OP. I don't know what the hell some parents are thinking, the hospital bed pics are a special kind of low. Children have zero privacy these days.