The universe of social media has transformed the way children and teenagers connect with the digital world. What began as spontaneous family records quickly became a million-dollar market: child influencers amass millions of followers and drive major advertising contracts. But, with the recent judicial decision prohibiting Instagram and Facebook from accepting content from children without legal authorization, a central question arises: has the era of child influencers come to an end?

A discussion that goes beyond algorithms or likes and touches on sensitive issues such as child labor, mental health, privacy, and premature adultification.

The decision that could change the children's digital market

In August 2025, the Labor Court of São Paulo ruled that Instagram and Facebook can no longer display content produced by children and adolescents without judicial authorization. The measure establishes a fine of R$ 50,000 per minor in an irregular situation.

The decision did not come out of nowhere: it reflects a scenario of growing concern about the exposure of minors on social media, where the search for engagement and monetization frequently crosses the boundaries of leisure and transforms into premature work activity. Until then, Brazilian labor legislation provided clear restrictions in physical environments, but did not address specific regulation for the digital environment.

In the ruling, Judge Juliana Petenate Salles highlighted that the constant production of content can generate severe impacts, such as damage to school performance, emotional overload, and long-term mental health risks. Even though the measure can be appealed, it opens a new stage of accountability, encompassing platforms, companies, and families that encourage or economically benefit from this type of practice.

The other side of the screens: when play becomes work

For years, the debate about children and technology focused on consumption: screen time, platform addiction, and mental health risks. A topic we address thoroughly in a recent article:

Read also: Screen time: what is the healthy limit for children and teenagers?

But, while this discussion progressed, another phenomenon grew in parallel: the premature professionalization of minors in front of the cameras.

Recent research shows that child influencers face a routine that looks very little like playing. To maintain algorithmic relevance, many are pressured to post daily, follow trends, and interact with strangers on a massive scale. This logic creates a relationship of dependency between childhood and audience, where likes and advertising contracts replace games and leisure.

Studies in developmental psychology point out that continuous public exposure accelerates adultification processes: children begin to deal with engagement metrics, financial negotiations, and even cyberbullying before they fully understand their impacts. This early transition from play to work hours brings profound consequences, both emotional and social, raising a central question: to what extent are we turning childhood into a product?

What is Adultification? A risk that goes beyond the digital

Adultification — when children begin to reproduce adult-like behaviors, aesthetics, and responsibilities — is not a new phenomenon, but it has gained unprecedented scale with social media. The so-called "Felca effect," a video-exposé that revealed practices of exploitation and premature sexualization in digital content, turned the issue into an urgent agenda, mobilizing both the Brazilian Congress and the Judiciary.

The risk is not limited to appearance or performance in front of the cameras. Developmental psychologists warn that, by taking on social roles or performance pressures incompatible with their age, children begin to carry emotional and social expectations that accelerate the loss of childhood. This can result in cases of anxiety, low self-esteem, body image distortion, and even difficulty in establishing healthy relationships in adult life.

Another aggravating factor is digital permanence. Unlike other forms of exposure, online content does not disappear: it can be replicated, remixed, and shared indefinitely, extending the impacts of adultification far beyond childhood. This digital scar compromises everything from privacy to future academic and professional opportunities, consolidating a problem that transcends the individual dimension and also becomes social and cultural.

The role of society

The debate on digital child labor is making it clear that protecting children and teenagers cannot be restricted to the domestic environment. Just as in theater, television, and traditional advertising, the presence of minors in digital activities for profit needs to be regulated, monitored, and accompanied by adequate protection mechanisms.

Prosecutor Ana Elisa Segatti synthesizes this reasoning well: "If children need authorization to go on stage, they also need it to appear on digital platforms for profit." This analogy helps bring the public closer to the problem and reinforces the idea that the online environment is not a "lawless land" but an extension of practices already recognized as child labor in other sectors.

In addition to state regulation, the issue calls for broader action. Parents and guardians must act as critical mediators of social network use; schools can develop digital education and awareness programs; journalists play an essential role in giving visibility to violations; and the platforms themselves need to invest in verification, transparency, and moderation mechanisms. Ultimately, protecting childhood online is a collective commitment: society, the State, and technology companies share the responsibility to ensure that the internet is a space for development, not exploitation.

What the law says: ECA, Constitution, and international conventions

The Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) establishes fundamental rights that protect the dignity, privacy, and physical and emotional integrity of children and adolescents. Article 149 is clear in requiring a judicial permit for any type of artistic child labor, which also covers digital productions, such as videos and broadcasts on social networks.

The Federal Constitution, in its Article 227, reinforces that family, society, and the State have the duty to ensure, with absolute priority, the rights of children and adolescents. In addition, Brazil is a signatory to Convention 138 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which defines the minimum age for admission to employment and establishes protection against forms of premature exploitation.

In other words, the legal basis for child protection has existed for decades. What changes is the need to apply these standards to the digital context, considering that social platforms have become new spaces of work and exposure, requiring legal, ethical, and social responsibility from families, companies, and governments.

When monetization outweighs childhood

The phenomenon of child influencers highlights how the logic of digital platforms can transform initially playful activities into constant obligations. The more content a child produces, the greater their visibility and monetization potential, which increases the pressure to maintain frequency and engagement.

Experts like Renata Tomaz, from FGV, highlight how dangerous this dynamic can be: "The platform will give more visibility to those who produce a lot, and this can transform playing into a full-time job."

This cycle raises a relevant ethical dilemma: to what extent do advertising contracts, likes, and followers compensate for the loss of essential childhood experiences, such as spontaneous play, informal learning, and socialization with peers? This reflection shows that digital protection and regulation are fundamental to balance creativity, development, and safety.

The global movement for digital protection

Concern over children's usage of social media is worldwide. In Australia, a law was passed banning children under 16 from creating accounts on digital platforms—a measure hard to enforce, but one that reveals the urgency of the issue. YouTube, for its part, has already removed entire channels, some with over 10 million subscribers, following allegations of exploitation and exposure of minors. In the European Union, proposals for stricter regulation on children's advertising and data collection are advancing, reinforcing the idea that the digital environment must also be subject to clear limits.

In this context, Brazil is taking an important step with the so-called Adultification Bill (PL da Adultização), approved in the Senate in 2025. The proposal creates a specific regulatory framework to protect children and adolescents in the online environment, aligning the country with international trends and recognizing that childhood cannot be treated as a commodity in search of engagement.

What to expect from the future

With the judicial decision against Meta and the advancement of the Adultification Bill, a new chapter opens in the relationship between childhood and technology. The proposal is to regulate and protect, ensuring that children can enjoy the digital environment without having their health, education, and dignity compromised.

The end of the era of child influencers as we know it does not mean disappearance, but rather the beginning of a safer, supervised, and more ethical model. After all, protecting childhood is also about preparing healthier and more critical citizens for the future.

In fact, what we are seeing is a transformation from unregulated exploitation to a phase of greater social, legal, and technological accountability.

If digital is already an inseparable part of the lives of new generations, it is up to us, as a society, to create the conditions so that it is not a space of exploitation, but of learning, leisure, and healthy coexistence.

To dive deeper into the subject, read our article on the impacts of excessive screen use for children and adolescents: Screen time: what is the healthy limit for children and teenagers?