Are Child Content Creators Protected From Exploitation?
Jackie Coogan was one of the first mainstream child actors. Discovered by Charlie Chaplin himself, he graced the screens in the golden era of silent films. Winning the hearts of many by his cuteness and wonderful acting. Immortalising himself in the medium in the process.
But when he reached the age of majority, it was a shock to him when he discovered he had nothing! His mother and step father had squandered the majority of his earnings in a lavish lifestyle. Citing that whatever money he had earned belonged to them, leaving a 21 year old Coogan with little to show for financially, after a childhood spent in the business making millions.
After suing the two, the Jackie Coogan Law, also called The California Child Actor’s Bill was passed. It became the pioneer of many other laws protecting child actors all over the world.
He wasn’t the only one. Shirley Temple, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin and many other child stars throughout the eras have reported misappropriation of their funds by their parents or guardians when they oversee their finances as minors, or have disclosed about the mental health issues they have battled from a childhood spent working particularly with adults, at the expense of a carefree time being a child playing and socialising with other children.
We see them everywhere on our devices in our times. And we love them! Their adorable faces, cute smiles, their charming outfits, their little voices and the funny dandy things they say.
They promote products, sampling and reviewing toys, reviewing new music, are modelling clothes, pranking their parents… and winning our hearts in the process.
Child content creators in 2020. Are they protected from exploitation from their parents or guardians?
Lawmakers in many countries have passed laws to protect children from child labour and exploitation. They stipulate the number of hours a child should work, what a child should or shouldn’t do etc. Because the entertainment industry is the area most children are involved in, the Coogan laws in America, serving as a benchmark for many other countries in the world are set to protect children in the industry financially in particular.
And because child actors are few and work for corporations whose operations are easy to monitor many of these productions are compliant with the law.
With child content creators on social media making content from the comfort of their homes, and their parents managing their work hours, participations and their earnings, how protected are they?
We are in the era of content and all content on social media platforms potentially earn revenue through placed advertisements or product endorsements.
And because the children featured ,whether in their their own or parent’s channels are in the sense of the word ‘working' , do they get a share of the profits? Do the parents consider it common property or do they consider it contribution as part of their household?
We are all aware of the curse of the child star. When they reach a certain age, they become less cute or less interesting, and when their main appeal is gone, the public loses interest in them and the revenue streams diminish causing some wounding and feelings of rejection to these children. As it would anyone in the same situation.
Few child stars transition smoothly into adult careers especially in the same line of business. And when they do it is after a rigorous process of image rebuilding, a process many have cited to be traumatic.
It is impossible to know for real whether proper mental health care is given to child content creators in this era by the parents or guardians since in major productions with a teacher on set, this is somewhat taken care of.
As children grow they discover themselves and their interests might change.
It is also difficult to know whether the children that may express an interest in taking a break are heard, especially when their platform brings in monetary gains for the parents and their households. Some have no other income stream other than managing their child’s channels.
And why are these children creating content in the first place? Are the parents teaching them life lessons and skills, documenting their childhood, having fun, helping them get set up for life financially or exploiting their child’s appeal or niche by using them to make money for themselves?
Any person with a social media profile knows how difficult it is to select the right image or video to post. How many takes it requires to get just the perfect shot. The same must apply to these children leaving one wondering how much time and effort they put into their work. And how healthy all that is for a child.
A decade or two from now, are we going to have a ‘famous children of social media crisis’? Where they reveal the possible financial exploitation or mental health issues that came about with growing up in the public eye? Or the pain of rejection on a mass scale when they reach a certain age? The internet is not safe from bullying. Are these children being given the proper guidance to navigate through it all?
Success Kid, now a teenager — the child in the viral meme with a green and white shirt holding sand, has reportedly began feeling embarrassed about his fame.
Also, because the parents shoot the images and videos , legally in many places in the world, they own the content. And this content earns them an income and could potentially earn for them in the decades to come.
What if the child grows up and for whatever reason wants the content deleted from the internet or wants ownership or control to it? It is assumed they never entered in a legally binding agreement with their parents or guardian concerning all matters arising. Or such an agreement would be nullified based on the fact that while still a minor, a child is not capable of legally consenting to anything. How can the interests of such a child be protected?
And because social media platforms benefit in sharing the revenues generated from this content, should they also not share in the responsibility of ensuring that these child content creators are protected from all this?
Currently, there are no streamlined guidelines, policies or laws specific to social media in place that protect these children.
It is assumed that the parents or guardians execute their roles with integrity from an informed position.
But it is not enough to assume. Pro activity is needed to provide child content creators with the safety and security nest necessary to cushion them from any negative eventuality.
It is time that we dig up that rabbit hole.
Here’s what social media platforms can do to protect child content creators.
