I've been working on this for a while and had a very productive meeting with two local MPs where we agreed to put something together to put before Parliament. This was off the back of the Online Harms White Paper which recommended Ofcom take over as regulator of online platforms.Just an idea but is there anyone here that would be good at writing a letter about children being used as performers online with no regulation? Then we could all send it to our MP (I'm sure thousands across tattle would want to) and hopefully one of them will pick up the cause.
Existing Ofcom rules around children clearly state that the interests of the child are paramount and even if a parent wants a child to perform their wishes can be overruled by the regulator. This is in line with the law around safeguarding generally and also the shift from the idea that the parent has 'rights' to the notion, stemming from the amended children's act, that parents have responsibilities, not 'rights' over the child.
In the States they call it 'paramountcy', the notion that the needs of the child are paramount. There are so many examples in family vlogs where the needs/best interests of the child are ignored,. Privacy, freedom from ridicule, ability to develop autonomy, the right to dignity and freedom from exploitation for profit, and many more.
My aim is to bring the same regulations into the online world that already exist in the offline world.
I have had contact with all major stakeholders including the NSPCC and the National Network for Children in Employment and Entertainment and have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the need for change.
Things have been temporarily halted due to the General Election but I'm all ready to go in the new year. I also have an academic interest in some of the issues that family vlogging throws up such as the 'gaze' of the viewer mediated by the parent, the abuse of parental power, and how family vloggers typify the libertarian, free market impulse of the tech giants where traditional regulatory principles and accountability are ignored in favour of creating your own moral universe, not answerable to anyone, in the pursuit of huge personal gains. Its no accident that many family vloggers, especially in the States, choose to homeschool their kids.
Anyway..I won't derail the thread. If anyone wants to get involved please message me. There's strength in numbers and I am finding it hard doing it all alone.