Youtube Family Channels & Child Exploitation

Most children have the ability to grow and develop under the supervision of their parental figures and close relatives. Their lives are relatively private and kept away from the public eye. This is the opposite however for children who grew up on Youtube with channels that are run by their parents or family members. Family Youtube channels often involve the children as the stars and the Youtube channel revolves around the lives of the family and the children. This can be detrimental to a child’s well-being as they have little control of what aspects of their lives are put on display. Although these family channels appear to be wholesome and harmless fun, there are many parents who have used their channel to make a profit at the cost of their child’s mental or physical health. 

Jordan Cheyenne was a popular YouTuber with 500,000 subscribers. She posted a video on Youtube where she motivated her son to cry after he received news that their family puppy had been diagnosed with a potentially deadly illness. She told her son, Christian “Act like you’re crying.” to which he responded, “I am crying”. Her son was obviously heartbroken and instead of simply comforting him, Jordan Cheyenne took advantage of this by filming and posting the video to her large following on Youtube. Many people viewed the video and were shocked at the exploitation of her child for views. The video was quickly taken down and Cheyenne deleted her account after facing backlash from viewers. Joshua Barbour is a YouTuber with an account dedicated to exposing family vloggers he tells TODAY parents, “These vloggers feel enormous pressure to create content. So if their kid gets injured, their first inclination is to turn the camera on — not hug the child, “All they see is the clicks and the views. They know what’s going to get them money.” This incident brings up the larger reoccurring issue of children being used for views and financial gain on social media and in family Youtube channels.

More popular family Youtube channels such as the ACE family, 8 passengers, and the LaBrant Fam have faced backlash for concerning content and neglecting the wellbeing of their children. The channel 8 passengers have been criticized for content containing uncomfortable situations and highly personal conversations between the mother and her children. In some of their videos it is obvious that the children are uncomfortable and they request that the camera be put down, however, the mother continues to film despite her children’s discomfort. Similarly, the LaBrant Fam has produced content that has concerned fans and viewers. In one of their videos, the family pulled a prank where they told their daughter Everleigh that they were giving away the family dog. This upset Everleigh greatly to the point of tears and caused her emotional distress that was then filmed and produced for the family’s financial gain. The family is believed to be generating $5.5 million per year from Youtube and there’s little evidence of that money going to Everleigh or their other children who are the stars of the family channel. This theme is recurring in the business of family Youtube channels and the ACE family is another big example of child exploitation for financial benefit. The ACE family has had several scandals and concerns for the children’s wellbeing only escalated when the family continues to release content that uses their children’s injuries as clickbait. One of their videos has the title “STEEL GOT HURT BAD ON CAMERA”, another has the title “EPIC CAR ACCIDENT PRANK” these titles as well as other family Youtube channels content is designed to attract viewers and profit and they aren’t completely ethically appropriate. 

As well as the emotional distress and discomfort that these children endure, it is also unclear what percentage of the financial gain goes towards the children and their care. Many family channels, an example being The ACE family, will not disclose the amount of money that goes to their children. The highest-paid Youtuber for the third year in a row is an 8-year-old named Ryan who is known for his channel titled ‘Ryan’s World’, where he opens and unboxes toys. His channel generated almost $30 million and it is unclear who the profits go to and what his parents are able to do with the money that he earns. As far as child labor laws go, the last change to child labor laws was the ‘kid influencer’ bill which was introduced in 2018 by California lawmakers in an attempt to keep up with the protection rights of children on social media. These laws are difficult to enforce and circumstances are vastly different now that media is shared in a constantly evolving digital world. Embezzlement is an underlying issue among many family Youtube channels and there is no guarantee that the money the channels produce is going to the children who are exploited for views and financial profit. 

Changes to child labor and protection laws need to be made so that the children starring on these channels are no longer being exploited and used for financial gain. The content that is posted on family channels and circulating the internet is becoming more difficult to regulate which also means that it is necessary that family channels are regulated to prevent child exploitation and privacy violation. The evolving entertainment industry has allowed influencers to manipulate and violate their children for their own personal gain. Shedding light on the exploitation of child influencers on family Youtube channels is crucial to implementing change and developing stricter regulations. This is detrimental to the children being used, manipulated, and exploited and it is increasingly necessary to regulate family channels’ content, revenue, and treatment of their children.