The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs is exploring the possibility of introducing legal provisions to regulate “kidfluencing”, alongside proposed guidelines governing the use of children in social media content.

Ministry Secretary Tharangani Wickramasinghe told The Daily Morning that the guidelines would soon be opened for public consultation, adding that the Ministry’s Legal Division had been asked to examine how legal provisions could be introduced.

“We have drafted guidelines regarding reporting about children in the media. However, several incidents have emerged involving children being featured on social media, sometimes even by individuals other than their parents. Hence, we have amended some of the existing guidelines and introduced new guidelines to restrict the use of children in such content. The guidelines are being finalised and will be gazetted following public consultation,” she said.

“We are also looking into whether a legal component could be incorporated into this. We have informed several parties to explore the possibility of introducing legal provisions to restrict such instances,” she added.

The issue has gained attention as parents increasingly share photographs and videos of their children on platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, raising questions about the potential long-term effects on children.

Following a viral video showing a woman leaving a child on grass while recording content for entertainment, the Ministry and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said they were finalising guidelines intended to promote a child-friendly media culture.

A panel of experts drafted the guidelines, which are expected to be released soon.