The rapid expansion of social media has turned digital content creation into a multi-million-dollar global industry, enticing parents, teachers, and influencers to feature young children to generate viral clicks, high engagement, and lucrative payouts.
However, legal and digital safety experts warn that involving minors in commercialized online posts, often treated as harmless entertainment, frequently violates statutory child welfare, data protection, and labor laws.
Speaking during the latest edition of The High Street Talks by The High Street Journal, an X Space panel discussion themed “Content Creation vs The Responsibility of Creating it: Who is Protecting Young Influencers” hosted by Fredrick Addai Kwarteng, the experts warned that many creators operate in direct breach of the law simply because enforcement has not yet reached their doorstep.
The Economic Craze Driving Child Exposure
The surge in child-centered content is fueled by diverse monetization models across digital platforms. Creators generate substantial revenue through viewership payouts, such as YouTube paying between $1 and $18 per 1,000 views for clips watched longer than three seconds.
There are also subliminal brand placements, ad-revenue sharing, gated content fees, and subscription models.
While structured international family channels like Ryan Reviews Toys operate as legitimate multi-million-dollar enterprises, local creators often scramble for audience attention by utilizing children as extra cast, comedic props, or viral B-roll inserts.
Flouting Act 560 and Child Labor Protections
Despite its lucrative appeal, involving children in commercialized content without structural protections frequently flouts Ghana’s Children’s Act of 1998 (Act 560.
Under Act 560, every action involving a minor must strictly prioritize the welfare and best interest of the child. Legal practitioner and Technology Policy Expert, Desmond Israel, explained that when commercial gain is derived from a child’s appearance without directly benefiting their health, education, or development, the activity crosses into illegal exploitation.
“When money is involved and the child is not earning, there is exploitation,” Counsel Desmond Israel emphasized
The lawyer further noted that subjects such as late-night video shoots or intensive filming schedules violate age-sensitive labor mandates designed to protect minors from harmful exposure.
Social media coach and digital marketing strategist Maximus Ametorgoh reinforced this warning, comparing uncompensated child content creation to illicit child labor
“It’s just like a cocoa farmer sending their child to go and farm in a cocoa farm. You are using your child to do YouTube video and you think it’s okay… it’s all child exploitation,” Ametorgoh stated
Unlawful Filming and Data Protection Breaches
In addition to child welfare statutes, creators regularly breach the Data Protection Act by capturing, processing, and publishing minors’ personal data and images without lawful parental consent
Counsel Israel highlighted a real-life legal dispute involving a commercial recreational facility that filmed visiting children for promotional social media campaigns.
Similarly, schoolteachers who record students in classrooms to generate personal social media views or ad revenue commit direct legal violations under Ghana’s child online protection framework.
“A Norm Until the Law Catches Up”
Many parents and content creators view posting embarrassing or funny videos of children, such as clips of toddlers covered in food or wearing diapers, as innocent social media activity. However, experts warn that ignorance of statutory liability will not shield creators when legal challenges arise.
“I always say that, wait until you fall foul of the law and you realise how beautiful and how enforceable most of Ghana’s laws are, especially when it manages to get straight to you,” Counsel Israel warned
Beyond immediate legal liability, Ametorgoh cautioned that creating involuntary digital footprints exposes children to severe long-term risks, including online bullying, psychological harm, and targeted cyber-kidnapping.
Your child is not a co-owner of your account or profile,” Ametorgoh noted, adding that “In some countries, they grow up and they end up suing their parents.”
Ametorgoh cited international legal precedents in countries like France and Australia, where young adults have successfully taken their parents to court over embarrassing photos and videos published during their childhoods.
Under frameworks like Ghana’s National Child Online Protection Framework, safeguarding children online requires a shared responsibility approach among parents, educators, and content creators.
The experts caution that creators must align their production methods with existing privacy and child rights laws before regulatory enforcement and civil litigation catch up with them.
