Here’s a non-paywalled link to an article published in the Washington Post a few days ago. It’s great to see this kind of thing getting some mainstream attention. Young children have not made an informed decision about whether they want their photos posted online.
On the flip side, search for “mom run” or “parent run” on Instagram to see the kids whose parents have decided to parade in front of thousands of people online. Usually moms posting their little girls in leotards and swimsuits for their mostly mostly adult male followers… 🤢🤮
But don’t worry, Meta isn’t complicit, if you search “child model” they give you a scary child abuse warning message.
Someone else on Lemmy pointed this out a while back, and after seeing it for myself that firmly solidified my decision to stay the fuck away from anything Meta does.
Why “run”?
Run as in “mom runs this account”.
“Mom managed” also gets results.
It’s weird the parents that are complicit in this, like how do they justify it in their mind? I had a girlfriend in high school whose mom encouraged her to post risque photos online in 8th grade, taking photos of her with her thong out posing seductively etc, she wanted her daughter to be hot. Maybe the parents are trying to relive their youth vicariously.
But you are right, worse than the random parents encouraging this, the platforms knowingly encourage this sexualization of children because they know the ad revenue it can generate.
I highly recommend reading “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy, and watching the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” Docu-series. It really helped me understand the mentality of parents like this and what they personally want out of it. “Reliving their youth vicariously” is a pretty good summary, along with the belief that making their kids famous will guarantee them a bright future.
But it absolutely exposes children to exploitation and abuse, and sometimes the abuse can be quite extreme.
I don’t know whether to upvote or downvote.
I wouldn’t want the wrong kind of attention drawn here.
But I think if people have FB accounts that should look for this and report the fuck out of it.
I too am conflicted about having posted this info, but these accounts are already getting plenty of attention. Some have over 100k followers. I figure it’s better that people know how this works so they can oppose it, even if it risks helping a few new unsavory people to seek these kinds of accounts out.
I’ve tried my options at informing Meta about this issue, and unsurprisingly it is completely impossible to establish any meaningful contact with a company like this.