Like any parent, Jeremy Bieber, the father of popstar Justin Bieber, enjoys sharing photos of his young daughter, Bay, on social media. However, many have raised concerns after the images have gained the attention of men.
After she was born, Bieber and his wife, Chelsey, set up an Instagram account for their young daughter, which was noted to be “run by parents.”
The account has encouraged followers to follow Bay as she grows up. The six-year-old now has over 351,000 followers, as reported by the Daily Mail.
While many of her fans seem to be young girls and their mothers, Bay also seems to have attracted lots of men, which experts find alarming.
The Daily Mail discovered that 20 percent of the young girl’s admirers are men between 18 and 34.
While the photos with her famous brother Justin receive the most likes, pictures of her in bikinis draw just as much attention. While that is concerning, the comments on those photos are even more troubling.
The outlet noted many of the comments of the young girl were s*xual in nature.
“shawty maaaad thiccc,” wrote one male user, adding drooling faces.
This comment was made on a photo of Bay when she was just three months old.
“I want it,” wrote another male user in 2020, when Bay was just a year old.
Another male user around the same time wrote, “your legs are very perfect.” He then asked, “Bay are you using some oil in your body [sic]?”
This year, the same account commented on another photo of the child, calling her his “mini crush.”
Bay’s followers criticized Bieber for posting suggestive photos of his young daughter, warning about the dangers of child predators finding interest in his daughter.
“Bikinis and little clothing on babies puts them at risk of being stalked by predators online,” one follower commented on a photo of the then-three-month-old in a bikini. “It all starts [with] parents posting too much about [their] baby.”
“How many pedophiles like this picture though?!?!” another follower wrote. “Please be careful @jeremybieber and @chelseybieber!! And be aware. That stuff ain’t cool.”
The backlash follows as the topic of child predators targeting children online has had many social media users question what platforms are doing to ensure that children are kept safe.
Some parents have built up online followers for their children as a way to make money, The New York Times reported.
Emma Woodward, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, also warned that parents should be wary of posting pictures of their children online because minors are incapable of processing the amount of fame pushed onto them by their parents.
“Kids and teenagers don’t have the executive functioning skills to understand the implications of what they’re doing,” she said. “They can’t legally give consent for what their parents are posting about them.”
