View cookie policy.

University of Essex homepage Research Projects Kids as Content
Research project

'Kids as Content'

Digital Safeguarding Toolkit

Principal Investigator
Dr Francis Rees
A linocut image printed in blue ink. The image shows two hands holding up a phone with a baby on the screen. Behind the phone are pictures and furniture showing the person is in their living room.

Using the Toolkit

As explained in the Toolkit Guide, the research conducted within the project has helped us to create the 6 risk categories set out below, framed through the lived experiences of our child/family account profiles.

Within each category, there are specific risks articulated at the top of each page posed as questions.

Three categories primarily focus on potential child labour risk considerations; financial, education and health & safety.

Three categories primarily focus on potential risks from broader sharenting activities; family, identity and dignity.

Once you click on each category, you will see each specific risk explored through the eyes of the child/family, as well as viewer, and consider what they are experiencing.

This is followed by an explanation of potential risk management approaches to these risks, providing advice and guidance for parents and practitioners in this industry.

The toolkit is intended to inform best practice approaches to safeguarding children, who appear as part of social media content, so please do consider this within your own role and practices when posting or commissioning child-related content.

Before using the Toolkit please check the Terms & Conditions.

Financial

Read more about financial risks

Family

Learn more about the risks to family life and relationships

Education

Learn more about the educational risks for child influencers

Identity

Read more about how children's identity can be affected

Health and safety

Read more about the risks to a child's health and safety

Dignity

Learn more about the risks to a child's dignity

Funding

The project was funded from the University’s internal International Impact Fund programme. The programme is a strategic University of Essex initiative to increase and speed up the beneficial social, economic, policy, and environmental impacts of our research around the globe.

Terms and conditions

The Kids as Content Digital Safeguarding Toolkit (‘Toolkit’) is a free resource, released under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This allows users to copy and redistribute the Toolkit in any medium or format. However, some restrictions apply. Accordingly, by using the Toolkit you accept the following Terms and Conditions:

Attribution

You must give appropriate credit for the Toolkit, providing a link to this page (https://www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/kids-as-content) and indicating if changes were made. You also commit to refer to Kids as Content Digital Safeguarding Toolkit at the University of Essex as the developers of the Toolkit. The recommended wording of the acknowledgement is:

The results and resources presented here are based on the Kids as Content Digital Safeguarding Toolkit. The Kids as Content Digital Safeguarding Toolkit is maintained, developed and managed by the University of Essex. The process of creating the Toolkit was financially supported by the University of Essex. The actions taken and interpretation of these recommendations are the author’s(’) sole responsibility.

Non-commercial use

This means that you are prohibited from selling the Toolkit directly as your own as well as re-packaging the Toolkit in any software-based systems that is sold.

No derivatives

If you remix, transform, or build upon the Toolkit, you may not distribute the modified material.

© Copyright University of Essex 2025

Photo of Apple laptop with screens open
Get in touch
If you have questions, queries or feedback about our toolkit, let us know!
WE ARE
ESSEX ARE YOU?
Sign up for a prospectus Get to know Essex
STUDY
Find a course
LIFE
RESEARCH
EXPLORE
CONTACT US
Contact


  • +44 (0) 1206 873333
  • University of Essex
  • Wivenhoe Park
  • Colchester CO4 3SQ

 

 

University of Essex - Where change happens

CONNECT WITH US
© 2025 University of Essex. All rights reserved