That posting children on social media should be banned?

[TartanPaper]

We’ve already seen serious forms of abuse happening and they’re continuing.

The woman who posts her little girl doing handstands in dresses and sucking on ice lollies, the orphan girl who was exploited, the woman who forced her children to cry a certain way when they were already grieving over a pet, the woman who was abusing her kids whilst posting about how to keep them in line, the autistic children whose every move is filmed so their outbursts can be posted…

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 recently came across an account of a small girl and looked at her followers. Nearly all grown men. I selected a few at random and the second one I looked at had no posts and was following nearly all little girls accounts. It’s disgusting, we all know who and what he is but he can stay and watch because the parents and guardians are happy to make money off these small children. Some are literally selling them out to paedophiles in front of our faces and no one can do anything.

I know people will say on here they they post pictures of their kids on private accounts but the things paedos do with the photos of the kids is horrendous, there have been stalking cases, AI generation, children’s faces turned into pornographic images and videos. It’s sickening and surely we need to protect our kids more than we need to share pictures with family or make a few quid out of them?

It’s so scary isn’t it.

First and foremost people need to stop telling people what they can do. If a parent wants to then it’s their choice. Stop this totalitarian mentality and the future will be better. We can navigate it, so at a happy balance without the need to tell everyone they can’t share a family pic ever now and again

We are going to look back at posting photos of a child online they same way we look back at smoking in a car with a child.

I just wish parents would wake up to the risks.

Terrifying. I keep reading reports about primary school kids acting out things they've seen in porn. The average age of a sexual predator is 15 FFS. Boys are listening to Andrew Tate and reading about incels. Girls (and boys) are sending nudes to adults and being groomed. Teenagers are posting inappropriate images of themselves on TikTok. Young people are being radicalised and no one seems to give a toss.

Okay cool, so off you go paedophiles, keep taking children’s pictures and staking families and abusing kids because you can do what you like.

And carry on ‘influencers’, keep exploiting you children for money and giving then current and future mental health issues, because that’s your right.

There needs to be reasonable intervention to protect children.

What about children’s rights? What about their right to not be exploited? Why don’t they count as much to you as their parents?

Kids come first to me. No it’s or buts.

Agree. I never used to even think about it till I had kids, then I realised how horrific it all was. I think many parents don’t even realise the risks of putting pictures up though, they simply don’t realise how dangerous it is.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 completely agree and you have written this more eloquently than I have!

Ehat I don’t get is the argument of ‘But what about our freedom?’ That totally ignores the children’s freedom from being exploited/abused/sexualised. If people want to put up pictures of themselves on public social platforms then that is entirely their choice, but to do it to children and teenagers is awful. It’s also allowing bullying to continue outside of the school gates and children cannot get a break, they are bullied 24/7 now. At least when I was picked on I had relief when I left the school gates, I can’t imagine what it must be like these days for young people and all the risks that the internet has given to them, and now adults are piling on more risks right from when they’re born.

It really concerns me - where will it end? Poor kids, it’s so unfair. I couldn’t imagine publicly discussing my child’s most difficult moments or getting them to suck and lick an ice lolly knowing what those videos will do. It’s terrifying, utterly terrifying.

Agree.

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

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.

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 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!

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.

Yes definitely! People filming each other and putting them online, editing them so people look a certain way and then those people are attacked for behaving a way they didn’t, it’s all so toxic.

Maybe things why people love the 90s so much, no bloody sm and little internet use.

How would that work for journalism?

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.

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 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. :/

Yes, This.

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.

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.