children; Stars with billions of income Who benefits from showing children's lives?

The expansion of social networks and the economy of content production has created a new form of children's work; A phenomenon in which children become cyberspace stars, attract audiences and generate income for families and commercial brands.

According to Ambassador Arjan, behind the entertaining pictures and popular videos, there is a serious question: who owns the income from children's economic activity and what institution protects their rights?

The global influencer marketing market is estimated to be around 24 billion dollars in 2024; The figure that was almost tripled compared to 2019. Meanwhile, some industry estimates put the market value of child influencers at around $8 billion; However, the source and method of calculating this figure is not known precisely.

The attractiveness of children's presence in social networks is rooted in the high level of audience attention to this content. A study by the Pew Research Center in 2019 showed that videos featuring children under the age of 13 received an average of 297,000 views; While the average number of views of videos without the presence of children was about 97,000.

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A famous example of this trend is Ryan Kaji, an American content producer who, according to Forbes, earned about $29.5 million annually between June 2019 and June 2020. During this period, his content was viewed more than 12 billion times and thousands of products with his brand entered the market.

These figures show that a child's image in cyberspace can go beyond a family memory and become a commercial asset; An asset that sometimes generates significant income without the original owner of the image having independent control over their contracts and financial interests.

The border between family activity and economic exploitation

Every presence of a child on social networks cannot be considered as child's work. The fundamental difference is formed when his presence becomes a continuous, purposeful and income-generating activity and content production becomes a part of a business.

In such a situation, parents may be the guardian of the child, the administrator of the page and the recipient of the income at the same time. Brands also pay for advertising, and platforms benefit from increased traffic and audience engagement. However, the child's share of the income generated by his image and presence may not be clear.

The report of the Research Center of the Islamic Council under the title "Digital child labor: economic exploitation of children in cyber space" emphasizes the necessity of identifying this type of economic activity. In this view, the continuity of content production, the goal of generating income and the time the child spends on this activity are among the criteria for recognizing the child's work in the digital space.

Iranian law; Existing protections and legal loopholes

Iran's laws have the capacity to deal with the economic exploitation of children. The labor law prohibits the employment of people under the age of 15, and the law on the protection of children and adolescents has provided legal intervention to deal with some examples of economic exploitation and harmful activities.

However, existing regulations do not specifically cover all aspects of child influencers' activities. The way in which advertising revenue is divided, the responsibility of brands and platforms, the limits of parental authority and the right of a child to delete their childhood images still need clearer frameworks.

Some countries have enacted more specific regulations to protect children who participate in the production of income-generating content. In 2020, France passed a law to regulate the commercial exploitation of images of children under the age of 16 on online platforms. In some circumstances, the income from the child's activity must be kept until he reaches legal age.

In the US state of Illinois, regulations have been passed to financially support children who appear in revenue-generating videos. These regulations foresee keeping the child's financial share in the trust account if certain criteria are met.

The main issue is not the absolute ban on the presence of children in cyberspace; Rather, it is the creation of a mechanism that protects their financial rights, mental health, and the opportunity for natural growth. In a market where the image of children can turn into a multi-billion dollar investment, the lack of clear rules may widen the gap between the generation of wealth and the enjoyment of its main owner's benefits.