Kidfluencers on a timeout as proposed data protection rules force an industry rethink

The first draft of the rules to enforce the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 prescribes that children under 18 cannot use social media without the explicit consent of their parents or legal guardians.

“A data fiduciary shall adopt appropriate technical and organization measures to ensure that verifiable consent of the parent is obtained before the processing of any personal data of a child and shall observe due diligence," it states.

The draft rules, published on Friday for public consultation, have left companies hesitant to partner with child influencers, or ‘kidfluencers’, until they have better clarity on the proposed changes, despite these firms already having obtained parental consent for existing contracts.

India has an estimated 75,509 influencers under the age of 18 with more than 10,000 followers each on Instagram, per data furnished by influencer marketing software platform Qoruz. Overall, India has more than 3 million influencer profiles on Instagram with over 10,000 followers each.

“We do not have much clarity on the legal compliances of marketing through minor social media influencers," said Anuj Chawla, director at Dreamland Publications, which publishes children’s books. “To avoid any complications, we are planning to work more with only mom influencers who create content around parenthood to target the mothers of kids to buy our products."

Other children-focused brands that engage kidfluencers for marketing campaigns, such as chocolate brand Kinder Joy, toy retailer Hamleys, and Firstcry, an online seller of baby products, did not respond to Mint’s queries sent on Sunday evening.

Also read | India’s Digital Data Protection rules: A story of hits and misses

Although companies already obtain parental consent to collaborate with child influencers, lawyers say the contracts will now need to be more detailed.

“Brand partnership agreements with kid influencers, or their parents, would also require careful revision to include provisions for obtaining and maintaining parental consent," said Aditi Verma Thakur, Senior Partner, Ediplis Counsels, who specialises in intellectual property, commercial and data protection laws.

“These provisions might cover parental responsibilities such as granting consent, ratifying the child’s social media activities and partnerships, and adhering to the necessary processes for providing consent on the respective platforms," said Thakur, who specialises in intellectual property law.

Some brand experts, however, view the proposed data protection rules for children as an additional formality to ensure the security of minors and don’t see a need for drastic restrictions or changes.

“On the face of it, requiring parental consent for children’s accounts on social media seems more of a formality because one assumes these influencers are doing what they do with their parents’ knowledge, consent and even involvement," said Sumanto Chattopadhyay, an independent creative consultant.

Once the paperwork is revised to accommodate the new requirements, the proposed rules will not be a hurdle in brands engaging kidfluencers for their marketing, he said, adding, however, that the dust needs to settle on the DPDP rules before their implications become clearer.

Also read | India’s data protection law may not be enough to secure people’s privacy

Parents on board

Expectedly, parents of some kid influencers support the proposed regulations because of the potential benefits of a safer online environment for their children.

“As a parent, if I am aware that my child is posting clean content on social media that is safe for viewing by other minors too, why would I not support him?," said P.U. Joby, father of the 10-year-old motivational influencer Benjamin Joby who went viral in June last year for his ‘sapne dekhna achi baat hai’ (it is good to dream) reel on Instagram.

“This is a great move, in my view, that would, in fact, reduce the incidents of trolling by some teenagers on social media," added Joby, whose son hasmore than 209,000 followers on Instagram and collaborates with brands regularly—IndiGo airline, fintech platform INDmoney and crypto trading platform CoinSwitch, among them.

Also read | 10-year-old Benjamin Joby’s viral video mirrors the rise of online motivational content

Shivani Kapila Tyagi, a ‘mom influencer’ known as ‘Little Glove’ who also handles the social media account of her three-year-old daughter Aadya Tyagi, expects the proposed data protection rules to impact older minors more than younger kids. Shivani Kapila Tyagi has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram. Her daughter’s Instagram account boasts about 111,000 followers and collaborations with clothing brands Cozy Cuddles and Little Looms.

“This rule may seem a little harsh in the beginning, especially for teenagers who independently handle their accounts without parental interference, but it is a greater step towards internet safety," said Tyagi.

“As a parent, when I see my daughter, who belongs to Gen Alpha (children born in 2010-2024)—a digital-native generation, use my phone sometimes I am always scared... I feel that parents’ accounts should be linked to their children to keep a check on content that they (the children) are consuming and posting and whether it is safe," she added.

Also read | The lives of India’s baby influencers

India’s proposed DPDP rules came a couple of weeks after Australia announced a complete ban on social media use for children under the age of 16.

“In the age of AI (artificial intelligence) technology, where deepfakes are being used to create pornographic content from social media posts rampantly, children are not safe on the internet," said Gauhar Mirza, partner at law firm Cyril Amarchand.

Data collected by Instagram engagement-enhancing platform Twicsy in March 2024 indicated that over 84% of influencers were victims of deepfake pornography worldwide, with India being the second-most susceptible behind the US.

“We have seen cases from child pornography, trolling and cursing to even kidnapping," added Mirza, who specialises in technology law, “so it (the proposed data protection rules) is a step in the right direction to shift the responsibility and safety of a child’s social media presence to the parents instead of intermediaries."

Also read | Are social media influencers equipped to dodge cyberattacks?