Recommended Citation
Christiana Essie Sagay and Unyime Abasi Odong,
Sharenting and Child Rights in the Age of Platform Capitalism,
58 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L.
77
(2026)
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol58/iss1/6
Abstract
The boundaries between private life, work, and visibility have become increasingly blurred in the digital age. Nowhere is this more evident than in the phenomenon of sharenting, a portmanteau of “sharing” and “parenting,” where parents routinely post images, videos, and personal narratives of their children on social media platforms. While often framed as acts of familial affection or digital memory-keeping, sharenting implicates commercial content creation and positions children as de facto participants in global digital labor markets. In this context, childhood increasingly unfolds within algorithmic and economic contexts that transcend domestic boundaries and challenge conventional legal norms, protections, and understandings of child work. This article interrogates sharenting as a matter of international legal concern, arguing that it constitutes a novel form of child labor and a potential violation of children’s rights to privacy, autonomy, and dignity under international human rights law. Despite these concerns, prevailing doctrines of parental consent sit in tension with regulatory frameworks that center the child’s best interests. Drawing on the normative architecture of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), International Labour Organization (ILO) instruments, and emerging digital governance standards, this article identifies a critical gap in protections for children rendered visible and profitable through digital reproduction. It challenges the reliance on parental consent as a sufficient proxy for the child’s best interests in a context where digital content generates revenue, creates enduring data traces, and enables transnational corporate actors to commodify childhood. In response, the article proposes a child-centered model of “digital parenting accountability” grounded in international human rights principles and attuned to the vulnerabilities produced by platform capitalism. This model affirms children’s evolving capacities, subjects consent regimes to heightened scrutiny, and calls for shared responsibility among states, parents, and platforms to safeguard children’s rights in the digital economy. (from the authors)