"It’s hard to accurately express all of the emotions I felt watching Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, the latest shocking series from Netflix. The three-part documentary series delves into the story behind a child content creator and the jaw-dropping and devastating actions of the adults around her.
As the mom of a toddler, I know I still have at least a few years (I pray) until social media and the internet at large become an influential part of my daughter’s life. But I’d be lying if I said the implications of that don’t already keep me up at night. And watching the latest Netflix series Adolescence and Bad Influence has done nothing to quell those fears. I’ve spent days unable to shake the story in Bad Influence, which is far more widespread than just one child content creator. However, I think there are also some incredibly important lessons to be learned from the documentary, and I was left with a few major takeaways that I hope will be part of a larger nationwide conversation.
What is ‘Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing’ About?
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is a three-part Netflix documentary centered on now-17-year-old content creator Piper Rockelle Smith, along with the teens in her content “squad.” Through interviews with past members, experts, and journalists, the series explores the story of Piper and the other content-creating teens, 11 of whom ended up suing Piper’s mom, Tiffany Smith, for an abusive environment both on and off the set of filming for Piper’s YouTube channel.
Smith started a YouTube channel for Piper back in 2016, and was instrumental in forming this so-called “squad” of child content creators she surrounded herself with. Over time, more kids were added to the group, with Smith orchestrating various situations for content that included music videos, crushes, pranks, and more in an effort to get viral videos. While both Smith and Piper have denied allegations made throughout the documentary, many of the interviews are shocking, shining a light on the dangerous world of child influencers and the predatory environments that often surround them.
My Takeaways from ‘Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing’
The show has already sparked a pretty intense discourse online and, for me personally, it has been a series that left me with some strong emotions. I saw it through the lens of not only a mom, but someone who writes about theme parks, and thus has had an inside look into what a degree of child influencers can look like in real life. Here were a few of my initial takeaways from watching Bad Influence on Netflix.
I Was Angry at the Parents
My first takeaway from Bad Influence on Netflix was pretty simple—I was angry. It felt nauseating at times to watch these children so clearly being exploited, with adults in the room manipulating the decisions and actions of kids for money. My most basic instinct was that I felt protective of the kids, and I found myself overwhelmed with frustration that it seemed like I, a viewer at home, felt more protective than some of their parents (many of whom expressed regret for not intervening after the fact).
During the documentary, Dr. Karen North, a Clinical Professor of Communication at USC Annenberg, explained my feelings pretty accurately. “When kids are encouraged to do things they know are wrong or know are inappropriate, and especially if they’re asked to do it, sort of, as a challenge, it confuses them. Kids understand that adults are responsible for the well-being of the children. When those adults are involved in interfering with the predictability of the world, it can interfere with the trust that kids have for the adults in the world that we live in.”
Kids should be able to trust the adults in their lives, and Bad Influence on Netflix showed a prime example of when that is simply not the case.
It Made Me Glad I Hide My Kids’ Faces Online
As a millennial, I feel like I grew up in one of the last generations where social media began as a place to simply connect with your friends instead of the world as a whole. Because of this, I know I spent the first year of my child’s life posting her face on social media, naively believing it was mostly being shared with friends and family.
While my husband was always wary of me posting our kids’ pictures online, I didn’t see anything wrong with it for the first year. That changed, however, when I noticed something on my profile. Despite having a relatively small following, I was looking through my photos one day and realized several pictures of my daughter had been “saved” multiple times on Instagram. The realization floored me, especially when I discovered it’s not possible to see who has been saving your pictures. I knew it wasn’t my family or friends, so my mind immediately went to the worst, and I deleted all of her online presence from my profile. Now, I only share pictures with her face through the Close Friends feature, so I can know exactly who is able to view or access pictures of my kid.
The documentary emphasized my fear on this, with episode two sharing the fact that a study revealed 60 percent of images found on predators’ computers are from social media. In fact, an article in The Wall Street Journal uncovered how Instagram helps to connect and promote a network of accounts devoted to the “commission and purchase of underage-sex content.”
There’s a Big Difference Between an Influencer With Kids and Kidfluencing
As a parent, I’ll admit that the majority of content I follow on social media is from other moms. For some accounts, parenting is their main topic, but the majority of my favorite follows are lifestyle influencers who occasionally share content about being a mom.
I have to say, watching Bad Influence really made me think about the type of content I consume, and clarify my thoughts on what exactly the difference is between influencers with kids versus child influencers. In my opinion, I think there’s a major difference between occasionally sharing topics concerning parenthood and accounts solely focused on kids. For me, following influencers who are moms can make me feel a sense of community and camaraderie in parenthood. They portray kids doing what they’d be doing with or without a camera present.
Child influencers are different, with the content revolving primarily around the kid, often in manufactured circumstances. I’ve actually been to some PR and media events in the past where I’ve seen child influencers in the wild, and it’s heavily shaped my view on the subject. I remember one particular event, seeing a girl who couldn’t have been much older than 8 wearing a crop top and colorful skirt, with her mom directing her to pose in front of certain backdrops for photos. I don’t know the circumstances of this, including whether the girl was having fun, the finances, who picked out the outfit, and the primary subjects of her content. All I can say is that I felt extremely uncomfortable watching the scene unfold at an event that I saw as a work obligation.
Be Ready to Have Tough Conversations With Other Parents
One of the most striking elements of the documentary was watching interviews with parents for some of the former squad members, many of whom didn’t realize the reality of what was happening while filming.
While, obviously, not everyone is going to find themselves in a situation where their child is being featured in viral content, it did make me wonder about whether parents should be more open in conversation about their child being featured in content at all. For myself, I would never post a picture of another child’s face without their parent’s permission, even if it’s just among close friends on social media. But I don’t know if that’s necessarily the norm.
“I would never post a picture of another child’s face without their parent’s permission, even if it’s just among close friends on social media. But I don’t know if that’s necessarily the norm.”
Much like parents need to have conversations about guns or alcohol in a friend’s house, I think it’s important for parents to set boundaries on whether content of their child can be shared, and share their families’ online safety policies. I know for myself, I’d be upset to learn a parent of my daughter’s friend had posted her picture without asking, or had allowed our kids to film and post content within their house. While these may all be small fries compared to the events of Bad Influence, they’re still conversations that need to be had.
Is Anything Being Done to Prevent Kidfluencing?
Bad Influence may portray a particularly extreme case of child influencers, but some of the biggest issues at the heart of it are more universal. For one, kids shouldn’t be the main source of income for any family. This was a similar issue exhibited in Hulu’s 2024 Child Star, which delved into child actors. In the case of influencers with YouTube channels and social media accounts, though, there is even less regulation about what is going on. Unlike child actors, things like breaks, education, and oversight are not required, which can turn particularly messy.
In 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into legislation two bills to ensure children and teens in online content are protected from financial abuse. It mandates that parents or guardians need to set aside a percentage of their earnings in trust accounts, with the hope of “[ending] modern exploitation ends through two new laws to protect young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms.”
Utah, Minnesota, and Illinois, among others, have also established safeguards for child influencers, requiring parents to provide compensation for children in social media content. While the percentage varies, Minnesota’s law (which goes into effect on July 1, 2025) perhaps goes the furthest, requiring the minors be compensated for appearances in online content, specifically mandating that kids under the age of 14 receive 100 percent of the proceeds. The law also requires that content be deleted when a request is “made by a minor age 13 or older whose likeness appears in the content, or by an adult who was under the age of 18 when their likeness was used in the content.”
A Good Start With More Work to Be Done
I’d argue that more still needs to be done. I think, certainly, financial exploitation is a major problem with child influencing, but I’d also say that it doesn’t compensate for potential emotional damage as well. I think there needs to be a larger conversation about how exactly minors can consent to making content, especially when it’s content solely focused on them. It’s one thing for a parent who’s an influencer to occasionally feature their child, but quite another when it just revolves around kids.
Bad Influence proves that this is a murky topic—a lot of the kids who were involved wanted to be part of the content, and wanted to be child actors. And they’re not outliers. According to a 2023 Morning Consult survey of 1,000 Gen Zers, a whopping 57 percent said they would want to be an influencer. Another survey done by YouGov found that professional streamer was the second-most answered dream job for teen males at 11 percent of respondents, beaten out only by 12 percent for professional athletes.
As all parents know, it’s hard to quash something that your kid is repeatedly saying is a dream of theirs. But I also really believe that, as parents, it’s our responsibility to take a real look at what is actually best for our kids. To me, it’s hard to imagine a preteen really grasping the reality of being a child influencer, and even harder for me to see any real upside for their emotional or mental health.
Final Thoughts on ‘Bad Influence’ on Netflix
While I’d personally like to see stronger legislation that defines the consent of children appearing in content, I do think Minnesota’s law is a good start in its financial obligation, as well as the ability for current or former child influencers to have a say on content being deleted. A great way to get involved is advocating to state and federal legislators through Quit Clicking Kids, an organization that was featured in the series.
In the meantime, I hope documentaries like this bring more attention to the problems and pitfalls of the realities behind “kidfluencing,” and open up some meaningful conversations as I know it has for me.
Morgan Flaherty, Contributing Writer
Morgan is full-time writer, editor, and mom. Along with her work as a contributing writer for The Everymom on all things Disney World, beauty products, and the latest fashion trends, her writing has appeared in Well + Good, InStyle, Scary Mommy, Byrdie, and Baby Chick.