Child Exploitation Through Online Sharing: “Sharenting” and the Role of the Pediatric Provider

The alarming trend of “sharenting” highlights the need for increased vigilance in protecting children from online exploitation.1 When parents share intimate details about children’s lives on social media, they may inadvertently expose them to danger. Pediatricians are equipped to safeguard children from parental abuse and neglect; however, they are less prepared to protect children from harm caused by parents online.2When parents exploit children on social media, pediatricians face challenges in protecting patients while also following laws that maintain parental autonomy.3 Using a child welfare framework, this article defines these online harms and proposes strategies for protecting children from exploitative parental online conduct.The exploitation of children online can take many forms, including cyberbullying, grooming, and child sexual abuse material. These actions are likely to be criminalized, yet there are other forms of sharing that our legal system views as within the bounds of parental rights and free speech. Parents create social media profiles or YouTube channels featuring their children, often sharing intimate details about their daily routines, health, and personal struggles. These acts can result in harms such as digital kidnapping, which occurs when a third party takes shared images or videos of a child and uses the media for illicit purposes. These harms may also include financial exploitation, artificial intelligence–generated impersonation, extortion, or the creation of deepfake sexual abuse material. The term Commercialization of Children’s Lives or Kidinfluencing can be used to summarize situations where parents exploit children online for personal or financial gain. This has created a new and largely unregulated form of child labor.This often exists alongside Emotional Manipulation. When parents use their children’s online presence to manipulate their emotions, they dangerously are playing on children’s vulnerabilities.4Parents may also expose children to online harm through Online Harassment or Bullying. By sharing personal information about children—such as home address, school, or other contact information—they become more prone to harassment or stalking.Parents may exploit children online by the Invasion of Children’s Privacy, which exists when parents share information about a child’s medical condition, which could lead to stigma, discrimination, or other forms of distress.Even when parents only highlight a child’s strengths, they may exploit their child’s talents by using them as Props for Personal Gain. This can minimize a child’s sense of agency and autonomy as they seek to define themselves on their own terms.The Inappropriate Sexualization of Children is fundamentally exploitative, and it can exist regardless of whether a parent recognizes the image or videos as being of interest to people with malicious motives in their viewing.The legal framework governing parental rights and child protection in the United States has evolved significantly over the past 2 centuries. Historically, parents had broad discretion, with physical punishment being a common practice. However, as societal norms and values have shifted, the law has recognized the need to balance parental rights with the state’s parens patriae powers.Today, 2 distinct penumbras exist: one governing corporal punishment and the other prohibiting child abuse.5 Parents may use reasonable corporal punishment on their children, but excessive or unreasonable corporal punishment constitutes child abuse, subjecting parents to criminal and civil prosecution. Similarly, parents may share reasonably about their children online, but accountability is warranted when sharing becomes exploitive.Exploitative online sharing should fall under the penumbra of child abuse but is rarely recognized as such by the medical or legal profession. In the context of sharenting, the primary responsibility for controlling a child’s social media footprint lies with the parents. When parents engage in exploitative online sharing, they have crossed the line into harm, necessitating state intervention to minimize detrimental effects to their children. Laws that do address this harm focus on protecting the earning of child influencers instead of protecting their physical and psychological safety. The concept of parental responsibility and the role of pediatricians in supporting children who are harmed by their parents’ behaviors is well established. Just as our pediatric patients should be educated on the importance of body autonomy and consent, they should also receive education on online consent and digital safety. In cases where parents engage in online behavior that puts their children at risk, pediatricians must work with policymakers to develop effective solutions that safeguard patients’ rights in the digital age while also recognizing parental autonomy. This requires a multifaceted approach that includes education, prevention, and intervention strategies.To address exploitative sharenting, pediatricians need comprehensive tools, including: Continuing medical education (CME): Regular CME sessions focused on raising awareness about exploitative sharenting, its warning signs, and its potential consequences on children’s physical and emotional well-being. This education will empower pediatricians to identify and address the issue proactively.Counseling during well-child visits: Pediatricians recognize that well-informed parents are generally able to make healthier decisions for their families. Designate time during well-child visits to counsel parents about the risks of exploitative sharenting, its potential harm to children, and strategies for promoting healthy online practices. This personalized guidance will help parents make informed decisions about their children’s online presence. The HEADSSS screening tool is frequently used by pediatric clinicians in adolescent well-child visits as a structured approach to questions about issues or risk-taking behaviors in adolescents’ lives.6 These questions can be expanded to include topics about consent for online sharing by parents, other caregivers, or even peers/intimate partners. Asking a child if anyone, including a parent, has shared information or photos/videos online without consent can be a jumping off point to conversations about assent and consent as children start to build their digital footprint. Encouraging families to utilize the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan can help identify at risk behaviors by both children and caregivers.7 Highlighting the Digital Privacy and Safety tools and asking thoughtful, self-reflective questions of both children and parents in their sharing practices online can help identify problem behaviors and create a window for meaningful discussion.Child protective referrals: Mandatory reporting laws vary significantly by state, and it is imperative that pediatricians, and all mandatory reporters, familiarize themselves with their state’s child welfare reporting procedures and act when there is a reasonable suspicion of abuse or exploitation.State and federal funding for public health campaigns: To the same end of empowering families and protecting parental autonomy rights, pediatricians must advocate for additional funding to support public health campaigns that educate parents about the dangers of exploitative sharenting and promote online safety best practices. These campaigns will raise awareness, provide resources, and empower parents to protect their children.Legislation and policy changes: Solutions to curb exploitative sharenting cannot rest with medical professionals alone. Our legal partners must act to ensure the state is able to intervene when the exploitative conduct creates an imminent risk of harm to the child. Advocating for legislation that better defines child abuse and neglect to include exploitative sharenting and associated harm can ensure that parents who engage in exploitative sharenting face consequences and that children receive protections they need.By implementing these tools, pediatricians can work toward protecting children from the risks of exploitative sharenting, promote healthy online practices, and foster a safer digital environment for children.