Cashcow Babies and the Modern ‘Mumfluencer’

The modern age has made it difficult, if not impossible, to navigate the world without establishing an online presence. It has also made us more accepting of children being online, especially for educational and recreational purposes. However, we must not forget the risks they face from potential online victimisation, especially following a lack of parental responsibility.

At one end of the spectrum, there are parents who adopt an apathetic attitude, allowing their children to freely roam the web unchecked, oblivious to the sites they visit and who they talk to. On the other end, there are parents who, seemingly with less alarm, not only expose their children's lives online for all to see but also monetize their relationship with their children without considering their future concerns.

In the modern era, mothers, in particular, have created YouTube channels, blogs, and social media pages dedicated to documenting their journey through motherhood, offering glimpses into their lives and that of their families. This is not inherently evil, you may say; the internet provides a platform to share wisdom and experiences with those who are interested. However, the problem arises when women make their children the face of their content. Some women will go so far as recording their baby’s birth and detailed title cards with the child's full legal name, date of birth, and messages like “mummy and daddy love you very much.”

No matter how ‘cute’ it’s meant to be, it is truly alarming when we realize that these are not just home videos for extended family, but rather, they are posted publicly on YouTube for the purpose of generating views and ad revenue. The parents may as well say outright, “To hell with my child's right to privacy.” A stranger could easily learn the child's full legal name and birthplace and dig further into the channel to potentially uncover more concerning information, such as the family’s location, home layout, mother's maiden name, frequented places, and other family members.

In some cases, mothers even share additional personal information about their children, including health issues, interests, and footage of them in vulnerable situations like diapers or baths, all with minimal censorship.

As someone who wants to be a parent one day, this sets an appalling precedent. Even in the best-case scenario, where the children remain safe and their personal information is not misused, they are still being exposed and displayed to the public as much, if not more, than their parents, all in the pursuit of attracting viewers and generating ad revenue, with no guarantee that any of this income will benefit the child for their contribution. However, in the worst-case scenario, which cannot be ignored, there is an increasing number of individuals with malicious intentions. These include paedophiles who may be emboldened to exploit these children, making the content produced by their parents a potentially dangerous spotlight for them.

With the emergence of violative deep fake technology, these children’s faces are effectively up for grabs, and it is easy for any perpetrator to manipulate the footage provided by willing parents. Would a mother who cares for her children, their dignity, and safety really put them in such a risky situation?

As horrible as it is to think about, and as debilitating as it would be to constantly think about what harm could (and God willing, never will) befall a child, the utmost care should be given to mitigate the risks so that they will grow up happy, healthy, safe, and well-adjusted. Putting a child’s image, along with all their information, for potentially millions of strangers to criticize and gawk at, is the polar opposite of that.

We can’t rely solely on technological authority to protect our children. Despite Youtube policies being put in place in 2019, there are still mumfluencer channels that predominantly feature very young children, with all the comment and video-sharing features enabled. This presents a situation where parents are monetising their children while showing a total disregard for their right to privacy and dignity, and it must be denounced.

We can make ‘mum content’ ethically. Parents can feature their children as little as possible, blur their faces and censor them when they do appear, and never address them with their real names, instead giving them non-identifiable or fake nicknames. If these measures are taken, it would be easier to accept that the parents are really just sharing their experiences as parents and raising a family. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Behind the seemingly innocent image of family vloggers lies exploitation and potential endangerment.