'Of course we're obsessed with skincare': Child influencers sing praises of skincare and makeup, sparking debates about child labor laws for social media

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Jan 26, 2024 6:00 PM EST

I don't know about you all, but I'm terrified about how unregulated the "child influencer" industry is. I have no problem with adults wanting to revolve their entire lives around posting content about their daily happenings online. I wouldn't like that for myself, but to eat his own. What really freaks me out is when adults force their kids to perform for YouTube or TikTok for hours every week, not even considering if that's what the kid wants for themselves. What kid earnestly wants to be a family vlogger without their parent putting that idea into their head? Unlike child actors, who can only be on set for a set number of hours daily, the child influencer world is entirely unregulated.

One viral TikTok featuring two girls who can't be older than 9 talking about how much they love skincare and makeup has drummed up concern for the wellbeing of child TikTokers, with some people saying it should be illegal to put a kids image out to millions of people like that.