Influencing a New Generation: Guardians' Duties to Protect the Interests and Safety of Children on Social Media

• Date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Amber Kolb

55

Inuencing a New Generation:

Guardians’ Duties to Protect the Interests

and Safety of Children on Social Media

AMBER KOLB*

Introduction

Sharing milestones and memories with friends and family on social

media is the norm for many people across the globe, but this development

has not been without apprehension. In particular, social media consumption

among youth has been a growing concern since its emergence in the 1990s.1

According to one national poll conducted in 2021, approximately half of

parents of children ages 10 to 12 and 32% of parents of kids ages seven

to nine reported their child used social media apps in the previous six

months.2 Early exposure to social media becomes even more complicated

when a minor’s rst or main exposure to the Internet is by their parent or

guardian.3 One U.S. survey conducted by Security.org of more than 1,000

1. See generally viCtoR C. stRasbURgER Et al., ChildREn, adolEsCEnts, and thE mEdia

435–52, 565 (3d ed. 2013).

2. C.s. mott Child.’s hosp., Univ. oF miCh. hEalth, mott poll REpoRt: shaRing too

soon? ChildREn and soCial mEdia apps 1 (Oct. 18, 2021), https://mottpoll.org/sites/default/

les/documents/101821_SocialMedia.pdf.

3. See generally Tara Haelle, Do Parents Invade Children’s Privacy When They Post

Photos Online?, NPR (Oct. 28, 2016), https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/28/

499595298/do-parents-invade-childrens-privacy-when-they-post-photos-online.

*J.D. 2023, Northeastern University School of Law; Senior Editor, Northeastern University

Law Review. Amber was awarded rst place for the American Bar Association Section of Family

Law’s 2022 Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest. Amber now works as an Associate at

Foley & Lardner LLP. Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or

opinions of any organization with which I am afliated.

56 Family Law Quarterly, Volume 57, Number 1 2024

parents and teenagers found that approximately 75% of parents shared

pictures, stories, or videos of their children on social media.4 Less than

25% of parents always asked their children for permission before posting

anything about them on social media.5 Over 80% of parents used their

children’s real names.6 Nearly 80% of parents had at least some social

media friends or followers whom they had not met.7 These statistics

alone carry many implications, but what happens when these factors are

compounded by the opportunity to prot from social media content starring

minors? The legal landscape is relatively uncharted, but the ramications

for families are immeasurable.

Eight-year-old Anastasia (Nastya) Radzinskaya had 103 million

subscribers on YouTube8 and 6.9 million followers on TikTok as of

January 2023.9 It is estimated that she made $28 million, landing her the

title of “sixth-highest-earning YouTube star in the world for 2021.”10 Her

videos feature activities like writing a letter to Santa Claus, decorating

her bedroom for Halloween, and singing and dancing with her friends.11

However, unlike most children, she has made a considerable prot from

brand deals, her merchandise line, and her own NFT collection.12 While

this is not the norm for most children on social media, it is a common

dream. A Harris Poll/LEGO survey of children aged 8 to 12 conducted

in the United States, United Kingdom, and China found that 29% of the

children wanted to be a YouTuber.13 The majority of content consists of

creators sharing their day-to-day lives, lifehacks, vacation vlogs, and

4. Parents’ Social Media Habits: 2021, sECURity.oRg (May 13, 2021), https://www.security.

org/digital-safety/parenting-social-media-report/.

5. Id.

6. Id.

7. Id.

8. Like Nastya, yoUtUbE (last visited Jan. 18, 2023), https://www.youtube.com/channel/

UCJplp5SjeGSdVdwsfb9Q7lQ.

9. Like Nastya (@likenastya), tiktok (last visited Jan. 18, 2023), https://www.tiktok.

com/@likenastya?lang=en.

10. Keith Calayag, This 7-Year-Old Earned $28 Million from YouTube in 2021,

Among Highest Paid, int’l bUs. timEs (Jan. 19, 2022, 6:50 AM), https://www.ibtimes.

com/7-year-old-earned-28-million-youtube-2021-among-highest-paid-3378689.

11. See generally Like Nastya, yoUtUbE, supra note 8.

12. See Abram Brown & Abigail Freeman, The Highest-Paid YouTube Stars: MrBeast, Jake

Paul and Markiplier Score Massive Paydays, FoRbEs (Jan. 14, 2022, 6:22 AM), https://www.

forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/01/14/the-highest-paid-youtube-stars-mrbeast-jake-paul-

and-markiplier-score-massive-paydays/?sh=601a3d881aa7.

13. LEGO Group Kicks Off Global Program to Inspire the Next Generation of Space

Explorers as NASA Celebrates 50 Years of Moon Landing, haRRis poll (July 16, 2019,

09:32 ET), https://theharrispoll.com/lego-group-kicks-off-global-program-to-inspire-the-next-

generation-of-space-explorers-as-nasa-celebrates-50-years-of-moon-landing/.