Earlier this week, influencer and former Paradise Hotel participant Elin Bergius (29) shared a call to her followers to follow her seven-year-old daughter’s account on Instagram. The reactions were not long in coming, and the post was removed after a short time.
REACTING: Ethical hacker and computer detective, Mia Landsem. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / TV 2
Now ethical hacker in Orange Cyberdefense, and “data detective” Mia Landsem (26), takes a strong stand against parents who create accounts for their own children, and what she believes to be parents and are influenced by the uncritical sharing of photos and videos of their own children on social media .
– In my profession, I see an incredible amount of photo and video material of children and young people in Norway that are abused and spread in various forums by abusers and pedophiles, says Landsem in a video on his own Instagram-conto.
Reacts strongly
She believes that an image that can be perceived as pleasant or innocent by parents, for example images of children dancing or swimming on the beach, can quickly be used by abusers to create a relationship with the child. Landsem emphasizes that if you have hundreds or thousands of followers in social media, the content will be available to be misused by unauthorized persons.
– And what gives you the right, dear parent, to create a profile of your child online, which is not even controlled by the child himself? A child who is not old enough to have social media, she asks.
Landsem emphasizes to God kveld Norge that she is not directing her criticism at Elin Bergius alone, but that she is speaking out about a generally growing problem. Good evening Norway has been in contact with Bergius. She says this:
– For seven years I have shared about my family and my children on Instagram. So this is nothing new from our side, but something me and my husband have agreed will not harm our children. We do not want to comment on this further, and we hope that people can take responsibility for their own choices and children, she says.
The reality couple Elin Bergius and Christian Fredrik Trælnes from Stavanger met for the first time when they both participated in Paradise Hotel in 2015. They have gradually replaced the reality bubble with a stable family life. Elin Bergius has today 119,000 followers on Instagram.
The couple’s seven-year-old daughter today has several thousand followers on Instagram.
– I wonder what they are thinking
Landsem also strongly criticizes influencers and parents in general, who share photos and videos of their children on social media.
– I wonder what you think with, or if you think at all, she says in the video.
She emphasizes that parents’ sharing of photos and videos is considered to be one of the biggest reasons for identity theft in the future.
– And children who do not understand social media and its consequences are even being paid for by parents and influencers. I am totally against that. There should be rules against this, says Landsem.
Landsem believes there should be rules against parents making money off their children. Photo: Orange Cyberdefense
She goes on to say that a child aged 5, 6 or 7 does not know what they are doing if they agree to parents being able to share a photo. She calls for laws and regulations “that protect the child from their own parents”.
– Because this is absolutely sick. Now we have to start taking this seriously, she says.
Landsem believes that children’s right to privacy is more important than parents’ desire and “so-called right” to share.
The child does not choose the public
The mothers-to-be and TikTok stars Camilla (33) and Julie (27) Lorentzen have also taken part in the debate. Earlier this year, they posted a video on Instagram explaining why they won’t be showing their son’s face. The child has not chosen the public, as they have, they say in the video:
Invites to chat
To Good evening Norway, Landsem says that she believes Norwegian influencers are “narrow-minded” and not very aware of the consequences of the content they share.
– I am happy to invite them to a coffee or a team meeting to show them what is going on. Several of these people even follow me, and cheer me on – until it’s about themselves, perhaps? We need to bring in a piece of legislation.
Landsem feels that there has been a worsening of influencers who share pictures of the children, and has seen the need to unfollow the influencers because she “just gets angry”:
– This applies especially to those who use the children to make money, for use in advertising and those who publish medical history or embarrassing stories the children may be bullied for later in life.
– Prohibition is not the way to go
Last winter, the party Venstre came up with a bill to ban parents from publishing personal information about children for commercial purposes.
If the Liberal Party’s proposal wins a majority in the Storting, it is up to the government to prepare a precise legal text.
A number of Norwegian influencers regularly share content in social media where children are visible. None of the people we have contacted in this matter have wanted to respond to the criticism from Landsem.
However, several influencers reacted when the bill from the Liberal Party came in January.
– Prohibition is not the right way to go. There should be guidelines on the exposure of children in general and it should apply to everyone, not just influencers. I’m tired of the influencers always being the big, ugly wolves because we make good money, said influencer Julianne Nygård, also known as Pilotfrue, to TV 2 earlier.
– Difficult to find advantages for the children
Mathilde Hogsnes is a research fellow at the University of Kristiania, where she researches influencers, social media and influence.
Mathilde Hogsnes at Kristiania University College. Photo: Jonatan A. Quintero
She explains that there are different nuances related to how the children are exposed: Some are directly involved in commercial posts, while other children are more subtly integrated into the influencer’s commercial activities.
– The practice that exists today is quite liberal. It is up to the influencers whether they want the children to be exposed or not. There are few rules influencers have to deal with, she says to God kveld Norge.
She says that influencers like to defend the practice with arguments related to cohesion and community.
– For the children, however, it is difficult to find any advantages. The establishment of stricter guidelines may be necessary.
Hogsnes elaborates on possible negative consequences, which Landsem also points to: Identity theft, violation of the right to privacy and misuse of images.
Silent influencers
Pilotfrue is one of several who have participated in the debate, as a result of her sharing her family life on social media.
– I think influencers are among those in society who think the most about what we actually share publicly about our children, she has said to TV 2.
Influencers such as Jørgine “Funkygine” Vasstrand, Iselin Guttormsen and Caroline Berg Eriksen are all profiles who have chosen to share photos and videos of their own children on their social media accounts. Several have previously been visible in the debate about whether this should be okay, but no one has yet responded to our inquiries in this matter.
Finally, Mia Landsem makes a call to all influencers:
– Go into yourself, spend ten seconds of your life sending me a message on Instagram or elsewhere to see how children and young people’s seemingly innocent pictures and information are abused in the grossest way.
2023-07-02 21:44:01
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