‘Kidfluencer’ Earnings Are Only Protected In a Single State. We Need More

A few years ago, I was scrolling on Instagram when I came across something that truly skeeved me out: a child, four years old, posing and modeling like an adult, down to holding a Starbucks coffee cup. I stumbled across it because I followed a fashion account that posted outfit inspiration. At the time, I believed that whoever ran the account picked accounts at random to showcase. I have since learned that, if you were a burgeoning fashion influencer, you could pay an unspecified amount of money to be featured on the page. I clicked on the young girl’s profile and learned that she had around 200,000 followers. She had brand sponsorships. And her account was managed by her mother. Makes sense, because I struggle to think of how a four-year-old’s pudgy fingers would be able to type the requisite caption: “I just love trench coats and I’m obsessed with this one !!” The girl — or her mother — maintained her Instagram presence since the age of two. Two years old. Imagine being posed and primped and propped into weirdly adult outfits since the age of two. Not even for a photo to share with friends or family, but to post on a public profile with the aim of growing a social media presence. To become a child influencer, and presumably influence other mothers to purchase these oddly adult outfits for their own toddlers. <a href="https://zulie.medium.com/kidfluencer-earnings-are-only-legally-protected-from-unethical-parents-in-one-state-we-need-224afb83a8cc">Visit Now</a>