When it comes to sharing content of children on social media – particularly via sponsored posts and brand deals – what’s legal isn’t always what’s ethical.

Influencer Brittany Dawn, who initially gained a following for her fitness workouts before pivoting to religious content, recently came under fire for monetizing her foster child on social media.

While Dawn has blurred out her child’s image in photos shared – a stipulation decreed by the U.S. Children’s Bureau for foster parents in their social media rules – she has found a different way to capitalize on being an influencer with a foster child. She includes affiliate links on her posts to promote products like baby monitors. If viewers follow the link and purchase the product, Dawn gets a commission.

Similarly, YouTube family vlogger Myka Stauffer has shared a number of details about her children, and has also relayed her experience of adopting a baby boy from China – who frequently appeared in her videos. (The Conversation reached out to Dawn and Stauffer about these criticisms, but did not receive a response.)

None of this is currently illegal. But this practice exists at the intersection of two social media trends: sponsored content and “sharenting” – when parents post sensitive information about their children online.

There are very few safeguards in place to protect the interests of children – both personal and financial – from their influencer parents. But the questionable practice of leveraging children for followers, fans and sponsorships is currently experiencing a groundswell of attention. Critiques of famous creators like Dawn and Stauffer are becoming more pointed and persistent, while some of the now-adult children of influencers are pushing back.

When kids become a prop

As a scholar of social media, I’ve spent nearly a decade studying influencers and content creators and how they blur the lines between entertainment, business and freelance work. Influencers constantly search for a niche, or something to make them stand out amid the immense amount of content online. My own research has examined pet influencers, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) influencers and veterinarians who are influencers.

Showcasing your children is also a niche. And as internet scholar Sophie Bishop has shown, influencers who feature their children sometimes use their kids to pivot the focus of their social media niche. They can move from being a fashion or travel influencer in their 20s to becoming a wedding influencer once they’re engaged and to a parenting influencer merely by hitting some of life’s big milestones, taking their built-in audience on the journey with them.

Children, however, cannot consent to being the star of their parents’ show.

While a child could feasibly find it “fun to be in mommy’s video,” it is unlikely they understand the long-term ramifications of being broadcast to thousands – even millions – of followers. The