Guidance for Agencies & Brands
Building a Framework for Ethical Family Content
Who this is for
This guidance is for any brand, agency, or industry professional involved in the planning, commissioning, or amplification of social media content that features children.
A brand manager or marketing lead
working with creators or influencers who feature children in their content
A creative agency, or talent manager
responsible for sourcing talent or shaping campaign briefs
A media buyer or performance marketer
promoting content that includes children across paid platforms
The way we work with children in social media marketing is changing.
As social media evolves, more children are appearing in sponsored content, branded campaigns, and creator partnerships. But unlike traditional advertising, where strict rules exist to protect child actors and models, the world of online influence has grown up with few formal safeguards.
Many children are building public personas before they can understand what that means. Some are helping generate significant income, without secured access to those earnings.
That’s where the Responsible Kidfluence Code comes in. This shared industry code outlines clear, practical ways to protect the wellbeing, rights, and future of children involved in commercial social media content.
Beyond compliance, this is a creative, ethical, and reputational issue. When children are involved, we must lead with care.
Our Four Pillars of Protection
This guidance is built around four essential areas of care and responsibility when featuring children in content:
Mental & Physical Wellbeing
Is the child emotionally supported, rested, and genuinely happy to be involved in the content you’re creating? Are they being treated as a child first, and not a performer?
Financial Wellbeing
If the child is contributing to commercial success, are they benefitting in a fair and future-focused way? Are there clear protections in place for their earnings?
Privacy
Does the child understand what it means to be online, and do parents have boundaries in place to limit what’s shared about their identity, routine, and environment?
Safety
Are you confident that the child is physically, emotionally, and digitally safe across every brand partnership or piece of content they’re involved in?
- Start by reading through the four pillars of protection to understand what matters most.
- To add interactions which automatically expand and collapse sections in the table of contents select the content27_h-trigger element, add an element trigger and select Mouse click (tap)
- Assess your current practices against each pillar and identify where you want to strengthen your approach.
- Use the downloadable booklet as your reference guide whenever you're making decisions about content featuring your child.
The path forward is simpler than you might think. You don't need to overhaul everything at once. Instead, move through these steps at your own pace, knowing that each decision you make is an investment in your child's wellbeing.
First, take time to understand the four pillars. They're not rules handed down from on high. They're a framework built from real experience, from parents who've navigated this terrain and from experts who understand what children need. Read through them. See which ones resonate most with your family's values.
Next, look at what you're already doing. You've likely made many good choices already. The goal here is to identify the gaps, the places where you might want to add more protection or clarity. Maybe it's about earnings. Maybe it's about how much of your child's routine gets shared. Maybe it's about ensuring they genuinely want to be part of the content.
Then comes the practical work. Download the booklet. Print it if you want. Keep it somewhere you'll actually use it. When you're about to post something, when a brand approaches you, when your child asks questions about their online presence, that guide becomes your reference point. It's there to support you, not to judge you.
Finally, remember that this isn't a solo journey. The Responsible Kidfluence Code exists because parents, brands, and agencies all agreed that children deserve better protection. You're part of that movement simply by taking these steps. You're setting a standard in your own family and showing the industry that this matters.
Mental & Physical Wellbeing: Our Guidance
Here are some things you could consider when involving your child in content creation, to ensure their emotional and physical wellbeing is protected every step of the way.
Ask your child: “Do you feel like filming today?” Give them permission to say no, and honour that choice without pressure.
If they seem tired, distracted or uninterested, that’s your sign to take a break or stop entirely.
Try This:
Create a visual schedule to let your child know when content is happening, and when it’s completely their time.
Limit filming sessions to short, manageable windows, for example, under 30 minutes, and build in regular breaks.
Avoid complex setups or long days that feel like work. Keep things flexible and spontaneous wherever possible.
Try This:
Set a ‘soft cap’ on content creation time, for example, no more than 20–30 minutes per week.
Don’t expect your child to perform, repeat takes, or deliver scripted lines unless it’s something they truly enjoy.
Natural, playful moments often perform better, and are far more comfortable for kids.
Frame content creation as a fun activity you do together, not something they’re responsible for.
If brand requirements are too rigid or intense, it’s okay to push back or adjust the brief.
Check in after each content day: Did they enjoy it? Do they want to do it again? This builds trust and allows you to spot patterns or discomfort early.
Keep a loose log of how they respond over time, it helps you make longer-term decisions around what works best.
Try This:
Keep a wellbeing journal to note how your child felt about each piece of content you made together. It could help to build awareness over time.
Protect time for education, hobbies and unstructured play. Content should never interfere with your child’s developmental needs or social life.
Even if your child isn’t reading the comments on your posts, those words still exist, and they may find them one day. Children can be highly sensitive to how they are seen by others, especially as they grow older.
Ask yourself:
“How might my child feel if they read this when they’re 12? Or 18?”
Think about how their friends, teachers, or classmates might interpret the content, especially as children begin navigating social circles and school life.
Be mindful that content seen as funny, silly, or harmless now may be used against them later - intentionally or not.
Content Care List For Parents
Download our complete booklet and reference it whenever you need practical advice. Print it, share it, use it as your handbook for keeping children safe online.
Next Steps
You don’t need to change everything overnight, but small, intentional shifts in your processes can make a lasting difference in protecting children across the industry.
Here’s how to start:
🧭 Review your current practices
Revisit your influencer briefing templates, contracts, and campaign timelines. Are they flexible, child-aware, and aligned with the Responsible Kidfluence Code?
🗣️ Advocate internally and externally
Share this guidance with your legal, partnerships, procurement, and creative teams. If you're an agency, talk to your brand clients about embedding these practices from pitch to post.
📢 Use your influence
As a brand or agency partner, you set the tone. By modelling ethical, respectful practices, you encourage others to do the same, and raise the standard across the entire industry.
🛠️ Build better into your workflows
Integrate the four pillars of Wellbeing, Financials, Privacy, and Safety into your standard influencer marketing processes. Add prompts, checklists, and policies where needed.
Thank you for being part of this change.
Your leadership matters.
And the next generation is worth protecting.
Influencer content is powerful, but when children are involved, the stakes shift.
Their presence in campaigns carries real-world consequences: financial, emotional, social, and digital. And right now, there’s no consistent safety net to protect them.
That’s why we created the Responsible Kidfluence Code, not as a rulebook, but as a support system. This guidance is an invitation for brands, agencies, and parents to come together and raise the standard for children’s wellbeing, rights, and dignity in commercial content.
As an industry, we have the influence, the tools, and the responsibility to do better. The Responsible Kidfluence Code offers a shared framework to help you make decisions with care, design briefs with intention, and model what ethical, human-first influence really looks like.
Get in touch
Do you have anything you’d like to add?
Get in touch and let us know your thoughts!
