On April 9, 2025, Netflix released a documentary starring the lives of a group of kid influencers that many Gen-Z kids know and look up to today. These kids were known for having the dream reality show life in the eyes of kids: no curfews, hanging out with friends all night, toxic drama, and friendly relationships and pranks. They created this “so-wanted” life with the help of YouTube and even collaborated with many celebrities as a result of their growing popularity. However, behind the camera was a deep, dark secret that all of these kids were hiding. This documentary, “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing,” uncovers the true nature of what being a child influencer feels like for this group of kids. Instead of enjoying their sparkly dresses and funny prank calls, they faced severe child exploitation by their parents. 

During this era of YouTube, many kids took to social media to release content about their daily lives. Some were bound to gain popularity as a result of their interesting personas. These kids eventually unified with their common interest in content creation and created their own group where they collaborated and created content together under one company. This series focuses on Piper Rockelle and “The Squad” and some of the popular behind-the-scenes footage that was leaked as the group started gaining popularity in their teenage years. Before this footage being leaked, these kids were secretly being exploited by their parents before they were really of teenage age. Netflix dives into some of the severe allegations made on Piper Rockelle’s mother and former manager, Tiffany Smith, and how he orchestrated and abused former members of “The Squad” as well as her daughter to gain views and profit. She would force the children to film inappropriate content for their age and create an environment of hostility and toxicity. She was claimed to have emotionally manipulated, overworked, and destroyed the lives of these innocent children, who were forced to work without their consent. 

However, after years of this turmoil, these former members decided to speak up about their experience working with Tiffany Smith. In 2022, these former members filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Smit, which was later settled in 2024 for $1.85 million, with Smit pleading not guilty. They alleged Smith had emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them when they were children. 

This series is a 3-part series, with each episode covering a different topic about the situation. Each episode explains how the kidfluencers rose to their fame, what Smith’s behavior was like behind the camera, and how the situation fell out in front of the entire virtual world. Much of this information was unknown to many viewers and supporters of this group. By the time the documentary was released, those who grew up watching this channel and “The Squad” were now seeing the reality of how these kidfluencers’ childhoods were shredded to pieces. The few minutes of happiness many subscribers experience watching these funny pranks turned into long moments of devastation due to the situation, and waves of distress were sent throughout social media. 

However, one important detail of the documentary was that Piper Rockelle herself did not include herself in the documentary. Many were skeptical of why the main victim of the situation was not expressing her true feelings, and that was being she is still a minor in the custody of Tiffany Smith. She is still being emotionally manipulated and controlled by her mother, a large misconception to many viewers today. As a result, her real thoughts and opinions have been restricted and show support for her mother. Rockelle took to social media to explain how she felt the documentary did not do well in contributing her perspective on the situation, and how only half of the story was properly conveyed. 

Even if some of the members supported and others disliked how the documentary displayed their unfortunate childhoods, it highlights some of the larger concerns that should be raised about child exploitation in media and how to protect those from situations like these. In today’s society, especially in the USA, there is a lack of regulation on “kidfluencing,” allowing kids to be easily exploited and used for profit and views. During this period of the documentary trend, many other cases of child exploitation in media also rose, allowing many viewers to connect how cruel the world of social media can be on young children. 

Although the documentary contained shocking and devastating material, it is a must-watch as it opens a new side to what many viewers experienced as a child. How one’s dreams of rainbows and fairies can easily be crushed by manipulative adults and the dark side of social media. This documentary should serve as a wake-up call to many current content creators and serve as an alarm that we must protect our children.