Virtual space, the slaughterhouse of children’s rights

When talking about child labor, the image that comes to mind for most people is of children working in a wide range of jobs, including selling fortunes and gum on street corners, working in workshops, factories, mines, bakeries, and similar places. These children are forced to work for various reasons such as the death or illness of a family member, poverty, financial, and cultural crises. This issue has been a concern for many years and human rights activists have been trying to draw the world’s attention to these children, who could have experienced a calmer and safer childhood if given the chance.

However, there is a modern type of child exploitation and abuse that is just as painful and is currently causing great concern among human rights activists, child rights defenders, as well as sociologists and child psychologists. This is the “commercial exploitation of children and adolescents in the virtual space”; in other words, another form of child labor in which the sale of fortunes and gum on street corners has been replaced by modern slavery, namely the use of children in the modeling and advertising industry for profit.

There is no denying that nowadays we are experiencing a dual-world and, perhaps, for many elements related to lifestyle such as fashion, makeup, music, design of places, and many other matters, a wider capacity has been found and the virtual world has become more attractive and popular than the real world. Technology and the use of virtual space and social networks have blended with people’s lifestyles, allowing for enjoyment of the virtual world as well as earning income and fame through it. It has also created a space and opportunity for people to interact with each other. It goes without saying that in this space, there are harms, crimes, and abnormalities that require appropriate legislation and updating of laws governing society. Furthermore, the void resulting from the lack of laws suitable for the virtual space, which clearly and transparently criminalizes illegal activities in this area, is a clear matter.

In Iran, as a less developed country, the trend of using virtual space is growing so rapidly that there is no room for laws to protect children’s rights in this space, and it can be said that the law has always been one step behind the prevailing customs in society.

The Universal Declaration of Children’s Rights.

Since it is the responsibility of governments to ensure the health and physical and mental well-being of society and children are considered the most vulnerable and defenseless group in any society, and are in particular need of legal and social support, the necessity of Iran joining national and international conventions and treaties and also drafting laws to protect the rights of children and adolescents is felt more than ever. Therefore, by passing laws, the Islamic Republic of Iran is allowed to accede to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, subject to certain conditions.

As an example, Article 19 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child obligates the countries party to the Convention to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while the child is under the care of parents, legal guardians or any other person.

Furthermore, Article 32 of the Convention obligates the parties to the Convention to recognize the rights of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development; while also requiring the parties to take all necessary legal, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of this article and to pay particular attention to the following matters in accordance with other relevant international instruments of the parties to the Convention:

A) Determining the minimum age or ages for performing a task;

b) Determining appropriate regulations in terms of working hours and conditions; and

C) Determining appropriate punishments or other enforcement measures to ensure effective implementation of this provision.

On the other hand, Article 36 of the Convention also obliges the countries party to the Convention to protect children from all forms of exploitation that endanger any aspect of the child’s well-being.

Children’s rights in Iran

Despite the approval of laws to protect children and adolescents, first in 1381 and subsequently in 1399, as well as joining the Convention on the Rights of the Child conditionally, the implementation of these laws has always faced challenges due to their weaknesses.

Referring to the Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents, approved in 1399, which states that some terms used in the text of the law, in addition to addressing domestic issues, also show a kind of reaction and cooperation with the global movement in support of the rights of children and adolescents, especially the worst forms of child labor, are still not easily enforceable.

As an example, economic exploitation and illegal employment of a child or adolescent, or forcing or coercing them into work or service that may be harmful or dangerous for them physically, mentally, morally, or socially, considering the child or adolescent’s situation, and any acts of importing, exporting, reproducing, publishing, supplying, trading, or uploading obscene or vulgar content or material that involves the use of children and adolescents, as well as establishing communication with a child or adolescent in the virtual space for any form of sexual harassment or illegal sexual contact, are considered crimes and are punishable by one of the punishments of the sixth degree of the Islamic Penal Code.

But if we want to examine the subject of children and adolescents’ rights in the virtual space and social networks from a legal perspective, the first question that comes to mind is whether the conventions that Iran has joined in the field of children’s rights and the related laws that have the potential to be extended to the virtual space, have the capacity to protect their rights and respect their privacy and be accountable for crimes, misconduct, and abuse of children and adolescents in the virtual world?

The honest answer is that conventions and laws related to children and adolescents have not been able to adequately respond to the need to protect children’s rights and respect their privacy and individuality in the real world. Naturally, the extension of these laws to the virtual space cannot cover all the complex dimensions of this emerging phenomenon in a society that embraces the virtual space due to the limitations of the real world. It can only criminalize a limited part of the violation of children’s rights. Therefore, considering these factors, the virtual space requires the development of its own specific laws and regulations regarding children’s rights.

Nowadays, the use of children in advertising, especially on Instagram pages, has profitable feedback and is a new virtual business method for parents who turn their children into commodities for income generation. Every day, the number of children and teenagers who are unintentionally involved in such businesses is increasing. Exploiting children in the virtual space for the purpose of income generation and benefiting from their parents’ fame, due to the unawareness of individuals and the emergence of media and virtual networks, is expanding. Unaware of the fact that the psychological growth, self-esteem, and future of children are affected by these activities and creating a virtual identity for them, where they have to constantly stand in front of the camera at the will of their parents and act as slaves for their parents’ fame and income, causes irreparable psychological and emotional damage to these defenseless victims and turns them into small adults. It is worth mentioning that parents and followers of pages that use children in advertising have a role in the psychological harm and

With the definition provided by the Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents, passed in 1399, the dangerous situation of child labor can be considered in this category; but whether there is an enforceable guarantee for existing laws or not, is a matter for consideration.