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‘Kidfluencers’ are today’s version of chimney sweeps
Protecting children from labour exploitation is difficult in the age of social media.
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"Kidfluencers" can generate more than US$20 million a year in revenue, but laws protecting their income are hard to come by when they are working for their parents.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
Tyler Cowen
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The topic of child labour evokes strong emotions and old stereotypes, such as the chimney sweeps of Dickensian London. The good news is that nowadays, child labour can be more pleasant and more rewarding. The bad news is that the question of how to protect working children is more complicated. Many children are grossly underpaid – not necessarily by the master sweep but by their parents.
More and more children, by which I mean minors below legal working age, are producing content as online influencers. A lot of accounts on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok feature such children, and they can be cute, endearing or (depending on your mood) annoying – as well as profitable. By one estimate, the most successful children working in this area – called “kidfluencers” – can generate more than US$20 million (S$27.2 million) a year in revenue.
