Online platforms for sharing thoughts, ideas, and content - "Children's Charity Slams Family Influencers and Brands for Creating a 'New Age' of Child Labor"
The use of kids on digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for promoting merchandise has evolved into a fresh type of household labor, as stated by the child welfare organization Terre des Hommes. Pushing products through celebs and influencers is a multi-billion-dollar industry where families flaunt their children to their followers to acquire monetary benefits, the company based in Osnabrück expressed during the launch of its child labor report 2024. These videos are frequently viewed by millions.
Child welfare neglected
Highlighting infants and toddlers specifically yields positive feedback, enticing businesses to advertise via these routes. However, the presence of the child's home is publicly accessible, there's no private area, and family life is mostly staged, they expressed. This endangers their personal safety, health, and creates the risk of connection and growth issues.
In keeping with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the welfare of the youngster should be prioritized, but that is not the circumstance in such cases, complained the general manager of Terre des Hommes, Joshua Hofert. The Child Employment Protection Act disallows activities for children under three years of age. The government authorities should promptly put an end to the inclusion of infants and toddlers in the channels of entrepreneurial family influencers and influencers, he advocated.
Videos that infringe on the privacy of older kids or put them at risk should also be barred. "Here we see firms also possessing the responsibility not to turn on ads on channels where children are exposed to such hazards," Hofert stated, per the announcement.
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The report by Terre des Hommes also criticizes Instagram influencers and their families for exploiting their children by involving them in product promotions, turning it into a form of child labor. In response to this issue, Joshua Hofert, the general manager of Terre des Hommes, urged government authorities to prohibit the participation of infants and toddlers in family influencer's channels.
