The Problem 

Parents and guardians increasingly post images and videos of their children on public online platforms, often as part of monetized content such as influencer accounts, brand partnerships, or ad-supported videos. While many parents intend no harm, public and commercial exposure of minors online creates serious, irreversible risks. Some of these videos the infants are half dressed (shirt and only diaper) or in some promotional videos, naked in a bathtub with their privates covered through camera angles.   

Publicly shared content featuring children is frequently downloaded, redistributed, altered, or used on platforms far beyond the original poster’s control. Law enforcement and child-safety experts have documented widespread misuse of everyday family photos and videos by online predators, including placement in exploitative forums and databases. Once posted publicly, this content remains online forever, even if the original content is deleted.  

Children cannot meaningfully consent to this exposure. They have no legal ability to assess long-term reputation, psychological, or safety risks, yet they bear those consequences for life due to the decisions of their parents.  

Why This Matters 

Permanent digital footprints: Images and videos posted on public platforms during their childhood can resurface years later, affecting college admissions, employment opportunities, personal safety, and mental health. 
 
Lack of consent: Minors cannot opt out of monetized or public exposure that benefits adults financially or socially. 
 
Heightened exploitation risk: Public content featuring children is actively targeted by predators for image misuse, sexualization, and trafficking-related activity. 
 
Legal gap: Current laws focus on extreme abuse material but fail to address everyday monetized or high-reach content that places children at risk. 

This is not about criminalizing parents. It is about acknowledging that the internet has changed and that children need modern legal protections that reflect permanent and digital exposure. 

The Solution 

I propose a child-centered legal framework that prioritizes safety, dignity, and future autonomy while allowing families to share responsibly. 

1. Restrict Monetized Public Content Featuring Minors 
Prohibit or strictly limit monetized public content where minors are featured. Require enhanced oversight, transparency, and child-benefit protections when monetization is permitted. Align protections with existing child labor and entertainment safeguards adapted for digital platforms. 

2. Require Safety Safeguards for Online Platforms 
Mandate default privacy protections for content featuring minors. Require platforms to implement detection, reporting, and rapid response systems for misuse of children’s images. 
Limit algorithmic amplification of public content featuring minors. 

3. Establish Child Removal Rights at Age 16 
Grant individuals the legal right to request removal of content featuring them as minors, regardless of who posted it. Require platforms to honor these requests promptly and without cost. Ensure this right applies retroactively to publicly accessible content. 

Guiding Principle 

This proposal is protective, not punitive. It does not presume malicious intent by parents. Instead, it recognizes that children deserve independent rights in the digital age, rights to safety, privacy, and control over their own identity. 

Just as child labor, education, and medical consent laws evolved over time to protect minors, online content laws must evolve as well. Children should not pay a lifelong price for decisions made by their parents before they could understand the consequences. 

I urge lawmakers to modernize child protection laws to reflect today’s digital reality and to place children’s long-term well-being above clicks, views, and profit.