Seen but not heard? Children’s rights, risk and governance in social media content

Abstract

Children are increasingly visible in social media content but may not always meaningfully participate in decisions that produce, circulate and monetise their visibility. This article examines governance challenges for early years content in the UK, where young children appear online through adult decision-making before they can understand the scale, persistence or implications of that online presence. Building on UNICEF’s 2026 Industry Toolkit on Children’s Rights and Digital Marketing, it situates risk and impact assessment as aspects of rights-based governance, rather than departures from it. The article’s contribution is to adapt this rights-risk logic to adult-managed family content, where participation sits on a continuum from sharenting and family content production to monetised influencing, and risks may emerge without commercialisation. Employing the University of Essex’s Children in Content framework, it translates children’s rights into safeguarding risk categorisation, while arguing that meaningful protection requires governance mechanisms that move beyond guidance and best practice.