OPINION: Celebrity parents shouldn’t monetize their children online

In recent years, celebrities putting their lives on display has become an intrinsic part of the job. From the meals they eat to even the birth of their children, actors, influencers and reality stars are constantly exposing intimate parts of their lives to the public. But with a lifestyle that ignores privacy, their children get wrapped up in the mix. While some celebrities refuse to post even an innocent selfie with their kids, others go as far as monetizing them in order to gain more likes and followers.

This is inappropriate and unfair, as children are too young to make their own decisions regarding privacy. They don’t yet have a full understanding of the internet and how permanent the content is. 

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are on one end of the spectrum of celebrity parents. They are famously known as one of the most private couples in Hollywood, as they have never shared a photo of their children. Mendes has confirmed she won’t be posting anything until her kids are old enough to give consent, a unique parenting strategy that more celebrities should consider before sharing their children to the world. Bullying and sexual exploitation of celebrity children isn’t as uncommon as some may think. Just because the posts are innocent, doesn’t mean the viewers are.  

On the other side is The LaBrants, a YouTube family that constantly shoves their three children onto the screen in order to generate views and likes. The parents once titled a video “She was diagnosed with cancer (documentary),” baiting viewers with a picture of their family as the thumbnail. After more than six minutes of talk about childhood cancer, viewers find out that the LaBrant kids are perfectly healthy. 

The LaBrants tricked millions of their followers into believing one of their own children had cancer. Because YouTube pays its creators based on viewership, they made thousands of dollars by pretending their child was sick. 

This happens more than most would assume in the industry. Despite being based in California, the state with some of the strictest child labor laws, companies like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are the ones allowing this exploitation. Having a parent in the spotlight should not prevent innocent children from a right to privacy. This issue needs to be dealt with at the government level because it already has and will continue to negatively affect kids for the rest of their lives. 

There is a clear difference between celebrities monetizing their kids and just sharing a cute photo of them. The practice of gaining money off of a child is immoral and unfair to the children who are not old enough to understand what being posted on the Internet truly means.