Child influencers should be protected by new guidelines - expert

Dr Francis Rees says parents have become a "pseudo-employer" of their children

Guidelines should be drawn up to protect so-called child influencers from being exploited for content, a legal expert has claimed.

Dr Francis Rees, from the University of Essex, said youngsters under the age of 13 were having their privacy invaded by work published online.

She said that some content creation activities had been recognised as forms of child labour.

"Parents have seemingly become a pseudo-employer," Dr Rees said.

The legal expert, who is based at the university's law school, said many young influencers did not share the same protections as their child model or actor counterparts.

• Would you let your child become a 'kid influencer'?

Her research found that content creation had impacted on children's school attendance and the employment benefits they could expect.

Dr Rees said she was seeking to address these harms by creating new guidelines for parents and guardians within the influencer industry.

"Navigating these issues can be very complex, so it is vital we start a dialogue around making the industry safer for children who appear online," she said.

"I hope, by involving parents, we can develop a 'best practice' approach that not only works for everyone, but puts the rights of the child at the very centre of everything."