INTRODUCTION
The rapid rise of child influencers on digital platforms has added a new dimension to childhood. At a very young age, many children are gaining popularity and earning income through social media content creation. However, their growing online presence has raised concerns relating to their privacy, financial interests, working conditions, and overall protection. India does not currently have a specific law dealing only with child influencers. However, this does not mean that child influencers are completely outside the existing legal framework. Various laws relating to child labour, guardianship, child protection and data protection may apply to their activities. In addition, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued the Guidelines for Child and Adolescent Participation in the Entertainment Industry and Any Commercial Entertainment Activity in 2023, which specifically cover content on social media platforms and commercial activities involving children. These safeguards provide some protection, but they do not fully address the unique issues created by monetised social media content, such as the management of children’s earnings, parental control, working conditions, and the long-term use of a child’s image and personal information. This blog examines the legal status of child influencers in India, analyses the protections and gaps in the existing legal framework, and explores possible reforms to strengthen the protection of children from financial and commercial exploitation in the digital creator economy.
WHO ARE CHILD INFLUENCERS AND HOW DO THEY EARN MONEY?
Child influencers, also known as kidfluencers, are young people who create and share content on social media platforms. They may post videos or photos related to fashion, games, toys, food, travel, or other interests. Their social media accounts are often managed or monitored by their parents or legal guardians. For the purpose of child-labour law, it is important to distinguish between a child and an adolescent. Under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, a child is a person who has not completed fourteen years of age, while an adolescent is a person who has completed fourteen years but has not completed eighteen years of age. The law provides different protections for these two categories. It prohibits the employment of children in occupations and processes, while adolescents are prohibited from working in hazardous occupations and processes. As their followers and audience increase, child influencers may receive opportunities to work with different brands. They can earn money through sponsored content, advertisements, brand collaborations, and merchandise. Some child influencers earn a significant amount of money through their online activities. Sponsored content, advertisements, and merchandise have become some of the main sources of their income. A well-known example is Ryan Kaji[1], who reportedly earned approximately $22 million in 2018 at the age of seven. A 2019 study found that child influencers with more than one million followers could earn over USD 10,000 for a single sponsored post. These activities can provide children with financial opportunities and allow them to develop their creativity. However, when social media content becomes a source of regular income, there is also a risk that commercial interests may take priority over the child’s education, rest, privacy, and overall well-being. This makes it important to examine whether the existing legal framework provides sufficient protection to children and adolescents involved in commercial social-media activities.
THE LEGAL POSITION IN INDIA
The legal status of child influencers in India can be understood through the laws relating to contracts, child labour and guardianship. Since child influencers are generally minors, they cannot independently enter into contracts in the same manner as adults. Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872[2] provides that a person is competent to contract only if he or she has attained the age of majority, is of sound mind and is not disqualified from contracting by law. However, this provision by itself does not determine the legal effect of every agreement made by a parent or guardian on behalf of a minor. Therefore, it would be too broad to state that every sponsorship or endorsement agreement entered into by a parent on behalf of a child is automatically enforceable. The actual effect of such an arrangement depends on the nature of the agreement and the applicable law. Parents or guardians may manage the child’s professional activities and financial affairs, but their authority is not unlimited. In the case of a Hindu minor, Section 6 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956[3] identifies the natural guardians of the minor’s person and property. Section 8 further provides that a natural guardian may do acts necessary or reasonable for the benefit of the minor or for the protection of the minor’s estate, but cannot bind the minor by a personal covenant. The section also places restrictions on dealing with the minor’s immovable property without prior permission of the court. Similarly, where a guardian of a minor’s property is appointed or declared by a court, Section 29 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890[4] restricts the guardian from transferring or otherwise dealing with the minor’s immovable property without prior permission of the court. Section 31 requires the court to consider the necessity or evident advantage to the minor before granting such permission. These provisions show that guardianship is intended to protect the minor’s interests and property rather than give parents or guardians unrestricted control over the child’s assets. The position of child influencers must also be considered in light of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986[5] and the Rules made under it. The Rules permit a child to help in a family enterprise only subject to conditions relating to education, working hours and the child’s health and development. In particular, Rule 2B provides that such work must not interfere with the child’s education and that a child cannot be engaged in such tasks for more than three hours a day, excluding rest.
The NCPCR’s Guidelines for Child and Adolescent Participation in the Entertainment Industry and Any Commercial Entertainment Activity, 2023 are also relevant to social-media content[6]. The Guidelines specifically recognise content created by a child or by the child’s parent, guardian or family for economic gain. Such content is treated within the framework relating to children working in a family enterprise, subject to the conditions prescribed by the Guidelines. Importantly, the existing framework also contains a safeguard relating to the child’s earnings. The NCPCR Guidelines provide that at least 20 percent of the income earned by a child or adolescent from the production or online content should be directly deposited in a fixed deposit account in the child’s or adolescent’s name, with the amount becoming available to the child on attaining majority[7]. The Guidelines place responsibility for depositing this amount on the family, parents, or guardians in cases covered by the social-media provisions. Therefore, it would not be accurate to say that there are no safeguards concerning the earnings or working conditions of child influencers in India. Existing laws and the NCPCR Guidelines already provide certain protections. However, these protections are spread across different legal instruments and were not developed as one comprehensive framework specifically for the modern child-influencer economy. Questions concerning parental control over commercial decisions, the practical monitoring of online work, and the long-term protection of a child’s interests therefore continue to require closer legal attention.
THE REGULATORY GAP: WHY EXISTING LAWS ARE NOT ENOUGH
India’s legal framework includes provisions on contracts, data protection, child labour, and guardianship, but it does not specifically regulate child influencers or the commercial exploitation of their online presence. However, this does not mean that child influencers have no legal protection. Existing child-labour laws and the NCPCR Guidelines provide safeguards on working hours, education, working conditions, and earnings for children involved in commercial activities, including certain social-media content. These provisions can apply to child influencers depending on the nature of their activities. However, they do not fully address the specific nature of regular, monetised social-media content creation.
It is true that statutes like the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986[8], the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015[9] and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 provide children with certain protections. However, the relevant provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023[10] have been brought into force in stages, and therefore its provisions cannot all be treated as part of the presently operative framework. The NCPCR has also issued Guidelines specifically dealing with children involved in entertainment and commercial activities, including certain social-media content. These Guidelines provide additional safeguards, but they are guidelines and should be distinguished from the binding statutory and regulatory provisions on which some of their requirements are based. Despite these existing safeguards, important gaps remain. The child-labour framework does not specifically regulate the regular creation of monetised social-media content, parental control over online activities, or the long-term commercial use of a child’s image and personal information. Similarly, existing provisions do not provide a complete and specific mechanism for monitoring the digital creator activities of children. Therefore, the main regulatory gap is not the complete absence of legal protection, but the absence of a specific and comprehensive framework designed for the realities of child influencers and the digital creator economy.
COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: LESSONS FROM FRANCE
France has introduced a specific legal framework to protect children whose images are commercially used on online platforms. In 2020, France introduced a law dealing specifically with the commercial use of the images of children under 16 on online platforms. The law brings certain online video activities involving children within child-protection and labour safeguards. The law provides protection for children involved in commercial online content and places certain responsibilities on parents and platforms. It also provides safeguards for the income earned by children from such activities by requiring a part of the earnings to be protected until the child reaches majority. The law also recognises the importance of protecting the child’s education, health and privacy. This approach is useful for India because India already has some safeguards under child-labour laws and the NCPCR Guidelines. However, these protections are spread across different legal provisions. France shows how a more specific framework can address the particular risks faced by children involved in monetised online content.
RECOMMENDATION
India should consider developing a more specific framework for child influencers while building on the safeguards that already exist under the child-labour framework and the NCPCR Guidelines. The existing rules provide protection for a part of the child’s earnings by requiring at least twenty per cent of the income from covered commercial content to be deposited in the child’s name. However, there is a need for clearer monitoring of these payments in the case of regular social-media content and greater accountability of parents or guardians who manage the child’s online earnings. The existing framework also contains safeguards relating to working hours, rest and education. However, social-media content creation can involve activities outside a traditional production setting, such as frequent filming, editing, live streaming and brand-related posts. Therefore, additional guidelines should clarify how working-time limits apply to regular social-media content creation and ensure that a child’s education, rest and overall development are not affected. Social media platforms should also have clearer responsibilities when children are involved in monetised content. They should provide simple reporting mechanisms, identify commercial content involving children, and cooperate with authorities where there are concerns about exploitation. Parents and guardians should also be required to place the child’s welfare above commercial interests and maintain proper records of the child’s earnings and work. These measures would strengthen the existing safeguards without disregarding the protections that are already available under Indian law.
CONCLUSION
The rapid rise of child influencers has created new legal challenges as children increasingly become part of the digital creator economy. India has no dedicated law specifically addressing child influencers, but that does not mean they lack legal protection. Existing laws relating to child labour, guardianship and child protection, along with the NCPCR Guidelines, already provide certain safeguards for children involved in commercial and social-media content. These include protections relating to working conditions, earnings and the best interests of the child. However, these protections are spread across different legal frameworks and do not fully address the specific problems of child influencers, such as parental control over online work, regular content creation, long-term use of a child’s image, and monitoring of earnings. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen and coordinate the existing safeguards rather than simply relying on general child-protection laws. A more specific framework for child influencers could provide clearer rules for social-media content creation while ensuring that the child’s education, health, privacy and financial interests are protected. The main aim should be to ensure that children’s participation in the digital creator economy does not result in their commercial exploitation.
Author(s) Name: Shreya Sen (George School of Law, University of Calcutta)
References:
[1] Vanessa Cezarita Cordeiro, ‘“Kidfluencers” and Social Media: The Evolution of Child Exploitation in the Digital Age’, Humanium, 23 February 2021 https://www.humanium.org/en/kidfluencers-and-social-media-the-evolution-of-child-exploitation-in-the-digital-age/
[2] Indian Contract Act, 1872, s 11
[3] Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956.
[4] Guardians and Wards Act, 1890;
[5] Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
[6] National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Guidelines for Child and Adolescent Participation in the Entertainment Industry and Any Commercial Entertainment Activity (2023)
[7] National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Guidelines for Child and Adolescent Participation in the Entertainment Industry and Any Commercial Entertainment Activity (2023), Guideline 14.
[8] Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
[9] Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
[10] Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
