They are often less than ten years old and already thousands, even millions of subscribers. On YouTube, channels featuring children are flourishing, often flown by their parents. Born in the United States, this phenomenon also tends to spread in France for several years. Thus Swan The Voice and its 4.4 million subscribers, his brother Neo which cumulates 1.6, and almost as much for Kalys and Athena Studio Bubble Tea, followed by 1.55 million people.
But the legal framework surrounding the activities of these children remains particularly unclear, warns the Deputy LREM Bas-Rhin Bruno Studer. To remedy this, this elected has tabled a bill to better supervise influencers in short pants. The aim is to guarantee the rights of children and fight against all forms of hidden work. "Children who want to make photo, film and song are protected by legal provisions that guarantee them the right to say no, the right to leisure, the right to rest and the right to benefit from the fruits of their work when the day comes ", recalls Bruno Studer at the microphone of Matthieu Belliard, in the morning of Europe 1.
"It is in this context that we want to place," says one who is also chairman of the Cultural Commission of the National Assembly. He recalls that to make children under sixteen work in the world of entertainment, for example as a model or singer, administrative procedures are to be made to a departmental commission under the authority of the prefect. "She examines, with early childhood professionals, the parents' request for authorization." A device that the MP would like to expand to children stars platforms like Youtube or Instagram.
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Detect forms of exploitation
"I want to be sure that behind there is no abuse, hidden work and that the children are consenting," says Bruno Studer who also recalls that these videos can pay big families, through the money generated advertisements, and partly donated to channel owners through the platform, or via product placements inside the videos.
But is a child able to stand up to his parents, even if the law is on his side? To avoid a pernicious form of exploitation, allowed by the parental ascendancy, the MP proposes that a commission can examine each case according to a series of criteria, among which: the duration of videos, their number, the amount of income they generate, but also the number of views. "Because we can very well imagine that parents, failing success, push their children to make more videos and put a pressure incompatible with those to which the child has the right," said Bruno Studer.
It also remains to obtain the collaboration of the platforms. For Bruno Studer would like to see the establishment of a right to be forgotten, to allow these youtubers who are very young to be in the limelight to have their images deleted if they wish to do so one day.