ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the rapidly proliferating phenomenon of ‘kidfluencing’ on social media platforms within the context of digital child labour exploitation. It focuses on children’s digital representation, privacy violations, their commodification within consumer culture, and the associated psychological impacts. Employing a qualitative research design, the study involved showing selected videos from nationally and internationally recognised child influencer channels to twenty-five participants, including parents, teachers, and experts in Türkiye. The theoretical framework synthesises Karl Marx’s concepts of labour exploitation and commodity fetishism with Jean Baudrillard’s theories of simulation and the consumer society to critically interrogate the transformation of childhood in the digital age. The findings reveal that kidfluencing transmutes play, education, and privacy into a marketable spectacle, thereby subjecting children to psychological pressure, gendered stereotypes, and consumption-oriented identity formation. This research underscores the inadequacy of existing national and international child protection laws in confronting these novel forms of exploitation. Consequently, it advocates for the urgent development of regulatory and protective mechanisms at the levels of digital platforms, families, and policymakers. By addressing this critical issue, which remains insufficiently explored in the extant literature, the study aims to contribute a holistic, child rights-centred perspective.