(Un)Boxing day: kidfluencers reprise role as Santa’s Little Helpers

Christmas time is here, again. The festive lights, fir trees, and spectacular holiday window displays serve to remind us that we should be opening our hearts, minds (and wallets) to the magic of the season. For www.parenting.digital, Miriam Rahali discusses the new marketing tactic of child influencers ‘unboxing’ new toys on social media. Parents should be aware of the possible benefits and harms of influencer culture on young audiences

Tiger mom 2.0: (over)parenting for a digital future?

In this Digital Age, are we setting up our children to fail? Following the ‘helicopter parenting’ concept of the 1990s Miriam Rahali looks into new pressures on parents (and children). As social media outlets allow parents to ‘overshare’, Miriam suggests that the anxiety of yesterday’s helicopter parents—who held unattainable standards for their children—have extended to the digital sphere at a time when 90% of new mothers are Millennials. Miriam is a PhD student in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science

#SponsoredAds: monitoring influencer marketing to young audiences

Changes in children’s media habits, namely their access to and participation in online activities, have warranted concern from parents and advocates. This brief locates children at the epicenter of an exploding digital media landscape, and considers the way their deep connection to technology has generated new non-traditional marketing opportunities. Brands are actively using the internet to reach young consumers, primarily via social media influencers, whose online presence tends to blur the boundaries between commercial and entertainment content. Children are particularly susceptible to influencer marketing because their ability to effectively identify persuasive messages has not yet fully developed. As such, they are less likely to critically evaluate advertisements because sponsored brand posts by social media influencers can often appear trustworthy and honest. In this brief, we assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing regulation before reviewing the opportunities and challenges that influencer culture presents to young children. Recommendations are made to relevant stakeholders – such as parents, educators and policymakers – to help children better recognize influencer marketing and make well-informed, conscious consumption choices

Legal, honest and truthful: advertising to children in the age of influencers

The UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture Media and Sport Select Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into ‘Influencer culture’ on social media. A new policy brief from LSE’s Miriam Rahali and Sonia Livingstone highlights concerns around the effect of influencers and sponsored advertising on children who are too young to discern and understand persuasive messaging

Principle 10: development

While the digital environment provides children with opportunities for learning and social, cultural, recreational and playful activities, child development requires resources and designs that offer creative outlets to encourage imagination, educational opportunities of all kinds, resources that recognise and celebrate cultural and linguistic diversity, and an enabling environment for children to thrive in, belong to and pursue the opportunities they choose. The principle of development draws together three sets of children’s rights:1 • Education: making education (formal, non-formal and informal) accessible and affordable to children of all ages and circumstances to enable learning and, more ambitiously, children’s fullest development. • Culture: enabling children to enjoy their own cultures and that of others and allowing children to ‘profess or practise’ their religion and speak their native language. • Play, leisure and artistic activities: the right to play, recreational activities and rest. While adults have the power to provide these opportunities, too often these are insufficient, inappropriate or restricted from children’s points of view. Society is often ambivalent about the role of digital technologies in children’s development, being unclear which digital activities bring benefits or harms. Public, private and third sector actors all have a crucial role to play in building a digital world in which children can fully develop

Principle 5: responsible

Responsible digital governance and innovation means policy makers and businesses should keep up with ethical, rights-based and legal frameworks and guidance so that children’s digital lives are enabled and empowered by design.1 The principle of responsibility emphasises that relevant stakeholders (or, in child rights language, ‘duty bearers’) should: • Know of and comply with laws, regulations, industry standards and other measures to ensure the realisation of children’s rights. • Provide children with accessible and safe pathways to meaningful remedies if things go wrong. Navigating the complex legal, regulatory and standards landscape applicable to digital products and services can be daunting. A Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) is a commonly used tool in policymaking processes to be sure of anticipating the likely impact of a product or service on children. It follows eight practical steps, and is now being adapted and applied to the digital environment by a growing number of states and businesses (Mukherjee et al., 2021)

Principle 3: consultation

• Consultation is vital to respect children’s voices and experiences in digital innovation. The right to be heard assures children opportunities to ‘freely’ express their views and have these views given ‘due weight’ ‘in all matters affecting [them]’.1 This right is crucial to counterbalance social and cultural biases against recognising children’s views. • While engaging children in designing and developing digital technologies is an already established design practice, it is often only used for products and services intended for children. Yet many children use products and services not intended for them, and consultation matters here, too. • To be meaningful and effective, consultation with children should be ‘transparent and informative, voluntary, respectful, relevant [to the child], child-friendly, inclusive, supported by training, safe and accountable’. Policy makers and innovators should flexibly use the forms of communication that work best for children, bearing in mind their age (or ‘evolving capacities’) and circumstances (including digital inclusion or barriers to participation). Crucially, it should include communicating to children how their views ‘influence the outcome of the process’ in practice

Principle 9: wellbeing

Wellbeing in relation to the digital environment relies on policy and design choices that enhance a child’s life satisfaction. These can include, for example, promoting a balanced lifestyle, emotional regulation and supportive social connections. Good design and practice can also make mental and physical health and other forms of support easily accessible. The principle of wellbeing draws together several children’s rights, including:1 • Life, survival and development. • Recognition of the specific requirements of children with disabilities and their entitlement to special care and assistance. • Enabling children to access ‘the highest attainable standard’ of health, including services, treatments and rehabilitation. • Adequate standard of living and material assistance to support wellbeing. • Protection from substance abuse and forms of addiction. Digital innovation and policy that promotes children’s wellbeing encompasses diverse products and services, including games, social media and video streaming platforms. To promote children’s wellbeing, it is important to encourage a healthy and balanced lifestyle rather than feeding compulsions, unhealthy habits or harmful experiences

Principle 1: equity and diversity

Equity and diversity in relation to the digital environment means that all children, regardless of their characteristics and circumstances, are treated fairly and have equal access to digital products and services, and the opportunity to use them in ways they find meaningful. The principle of equity and diversity draws together three sets of children’s rights:1 • Non-discrimination: the right to be treated fairly and not discriminated against. • Family provision and alternative care: to ensure that parents and caregivers are supported, and that children living in alternative care do not miss out. • Special protective measures: to make explicit provisions for children with disabilities or those living in disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable situations, and empower parents and caregivers to support their children. Respecting the principle of equity and diversity does not mean that all children should be treated just the same, or that businesses cannot tailor their products to specific user groups. But policy makers and innovators should prioritise fairness by recognising and addressing the diverse needs and expectations of the children likely to use or be impacted by digital products and services and taking active steps to avoid or overcome potential forms of exclusion or discrimination

Principle 4: age appropriate

Age-appropriate products and services depend on children’s developmental milestones and life circumstances. Innovators and policy makers must consider the role of parents and caregivers, states and businesses in realising children’s rights to provision, participation and protection in accordance with the child’s evolving capacities and the gradual acquisition of autonomy. This principle draws together three central issues in children’s rights:1 • The concept of the child’s evolving capacities recognises the gradual process through which children acquire greater competencies and understanding, along with the necessary transfer of responsibility for decision making from the parents or caregivers to the child. • The obligations of the state include providing support and guidance to parents and caregivers so that they can protect their child’s rights. In a digital world, parental responsibilities include mediating the use and impact of technologies, and the state – and businesses – play a key role in supporting this. • When considering the use of age-assurance or age-gating mechanisms, policy makers and product developers must ensure these do not have adverse unintended uses and protect children’s privacy and other rights