‘Oo Antava’, a popular dance number from Pushpa has gone viral on social media with many dancers and influencers across age groups sharing their performances to the song. One such video featured two children, seemingly under the age of 10. The girl can be seen wearing a saree, and is dancing to the song with a boy. When the video was reshared by the Instagram page Reels Official Tamil in January this year, that aggregates Tamil dance reels and dubbed videos on the platform, it was criticised for being age-inappropriate - Oo Antava is what is popularly called an ‘item song’, and the choreography used by the children had moves which were being seen as too sexualised for children.
With social media becoming an indispensable part of people’s lives, it is not a surprise that many under the age of 18 are increasingly turning to social networking sites as well. According to an Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report, 66 million users between the ages of 5 to 11 years access the internet, out of the 451 million monthly active users. Two-thirds of internet users in India are in the age group of 12-29 years, the IAMAI report added. The closure of schools and increased dependency on online learning has only accelerated internet usage as well as social media among children to connect with friends, learn, share their work and more.
Many children are influencers themselves, whether their accounts are managed by them or adults in their lives, like parents. It is inevitable then that children will also participate in trends including dancing, lip syncing and so on not only to remain relevant but also to grow reach and following, even if the content of those trends is age-inappropriate. Whether parents compel or convince children to perform dance routines to share online, or whether these videos are merely children emulating the world and media around them which normalises objectification and hyper-sexualisation of women, there are risks to children with no easy solutions. While the children or even parents may have no intent of sexualising them, once the videos are on the internet, the continued proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM, also known as child pornography), the misuse of videos to sexualise children, cyber bullying and so on makes digital parenting a tricky area.
Manoj Kumar Sharma from the Department of Clinical Psychology, who heads the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) Clinic at NIMHANS, explains that it is natural for children to imitate what they see in movies, OTT platforms or on social media. “Children would want to imitate the dance moves, dialogues, etc. that they see in movies. Instead of stopping them from exploring their expression, parents must create a safe space for them," he says. Besides, many TV programmes across languages also have comedy and dance shows where sexualising children is normalised.
It is also important to make a distinction between children recording and posting videos to make sense and be part of the popular culture around them and the gaze that adults watching the video ascribe to the videos. For instance, a child imitating the moves of a popular song with adult themes or misogynistic lyrics may be doing it simply because they want to dance and get validation on social media like their peers. However, a predator finding that video and misusing it or posting inappropriate or sleazy comments on it does not mean that the child intended to receive that response. The Netflix film Cuties makes this distinction well - where the pre-teen girls are twerking and learning dance moves, the gaze of camera focuses on their efforts to hone their dancing and perform at a competition. But when adults see them, the gaze is different, it sees them as girls who want to sexualise themselves when that is not the case.
However, there are also some cases where adults have been at fault for sexualising children in the name of entertainment. In July 2021, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) sought an FIR against a woman who had posted several dance videos with her son, who is a minor. In a number of these videos, the child assumes the role of an adult and imitates sexualised moves, while the lyrics of songs playing in the background describe a man’s desire for a woman. These videos were posted on Instagram reels from an account that has more than 1.60 lakh followers. The provocative and sexual nature of the dance moves in the video drew ire, with many calling it child abuse, and calling out the woman for teaching her young son to objectify his mother and other women.
Speaking to TNM about the impact such videos could have on children, consultant clinical psychologist Samanvithaa Adiseshan points out, “Some of the videos uploaded by the woman could be counted as child abuse. The child might currently like the attention he is getting. But exposing him to sexualising and objectifying his own mother at the age of 9 or 10 could cause psychological issues in future or contribute to childhood trauma. He might later realise that he was forced or manipulated to make these videos.”
Digital literacy and taking cognizance of the repercussions of uploading age-inappropriate videos on social media falls on the parents. Samanvithaa observes that it is important for parents to be mindful about the videos they upload online even if their intent is to post them for educational or entertainment purposes. “When videos or photos are uploaded on social media, the children featured might be mocked or trolled. So, even if kids are very young, parents need to explain to them that their videos will be uploaded online and they should get their consent. Otherwise, it is a boundary violation,” she says. She adds that in many cases, parents try to fulfill their dreams through their children or drive brand partnerships through these videos.
Cases of online child abuse and exploitation, and media reports from other countries discussing daunting instances of CSAM and child grooming underline the need to have a robust child safety system in place. Manoj also points out that social media and internet usage, when unmoderated, can negatively impact the child’s mental health. “We do not have detailed empirical data on children’s social media usage patterns, the kinds of content they are exposed to, the kind of content they post and the impact it is having on them. However, based on case studies, we are seeing how, many times, social media can be anxiety-inducing for children or might lower their self-worth in cases where kids monitor the number of likes and comments,” he says.
Speaking to TNM, cybersecurity expert Nandakishore Harikumar points out, “In India, CSAM is highly monitored. Platforms, NGOs or independent organizations, as well as Twitter handles work towards reporting such cases and prompt action is taken. But we have been conducting multiple studies on school-going children being exposed to abuse on the internet. Due to lack of digital literacy, parents fail to understand that the internet is a public space. Parents wouldn’t send a five or six-year-old child alone to the mall. Similarly, they will have to understand that monitoring and parental mediation is required when they use social media too.”
He also draws attention to the inefficacy of platforms in tackling the threats children face online. “When it comes to moderating, the child safety mechanisms used by platforms are nowhere close to being foolproof.”
Multiple media reports shed light on the need to have comprehensive cyber security laws in place. Kids Online Safety Act, a bill introduced by two US Senators on February 16, 2022, requires companies to implement measures such as having settings that would limit the ability of others to find minors online, restrict the amount of data collected on them, allow them to opt out of algorithmic recommendations systems using their data, and also make child safety safeguards as the default setting. It also adds that the big tech players would be audited by an independent third-party entity to analyse the risks of harm to minors on their services.
Even when platforms have features to combat online abuse of children, there are loopholes in its implementation -- for instance, circumventing the age-verification processes. As per a PTI report, a study released by The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in 2021 revealed that over 37% of children aged 10 years are on Facebook illegally while 24.3% of Indian children have an Instagram account, seemingly in contravention to the guidelines established by social networking sites. For the study, responses from a total of 5,811 participants, consisting of 3,491 school going children, 1,534 parents and 786 teachers from 60 schools, across six states in the country, were collected.
Nandakishore also adds that another hurdle platforms face is with regards to flagging regional language content that does not abide by platforms’ community guidelines. A number of Tamil YouTube videos that are uploaded as ‘2k kids videos’ feature visuals from weddings of teens, their romantic relationships and their breakups. These videos are regularly used by other YouTubers for trolling and creating memes. While there is a possibility that some of these videos feature people above the age of 18, the absence of details about their age is misleading to other users and raises questions about child safety guidelines established by platforms.
While monitoring is one aspect of ensuring your child is safe from the perils of using social media, experts say that it is also important for parents and guardians to ensure that the children know they have a safe space to explore the internet, ask questions, and importantly, approach trusted adults if they find themselves in an unsafe or uncomfortable position online.
Samanvithaa also emphasises on the need for sexuality education and open communication. “Sexuality education needs to start from a young age. Even babies below the age of two sometimes touch their body parts out of curiosity to understand their bodies better. Similarly, if kids are willing to perform dance steps where the steps are provocative or sexualised, parents need to communicate why they have concerns and children need to communicate why they are interested in putting it out,” she says.
Manoj also suggests that one way to indulge their children by recording the videos of them dancing or lip syncing if they want, and consider uploading them later when the children are old enough to understand the implications and give consent.
As for clothing, the Chennai-based psychologist notes that children are likely to have disagreements with their parents. Referring to the Oo Antava video, she notes that it was probably a parent who dressed up their child in a saree. “But adolescents tend to fight with their parents about clothing because of the generation gap. Again, it is only dialogue that will help both parents and children to understand each other’s perspectives and arrive at a common consensus,” Samanvithaa says.
Online resources, experiences shared by parents on social media, as well as the experts TNM spoke suggest that parents and children could find a middle ground by creating a private account on social media instead of a public one. This could also allow children to monitor the social media handle and add only trustworthy users to the followers. Parents are also advised to accompany children under the age of 12 while using social media in order to avoid children being exposed to age-inappropriate content.
Experts also stress on the need to have robust information-technology laws and regulations, training and comprehensive modules on internet safety rules and practices for children in schools and training programmes for teachers.
Edited by Geetika Mantri