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Mothers Lead Movement to Protect Children from TikTok Predators

Photo by Dakota Corbin via Unsplash

Mothers Lead Movement to Protect Children from TikTok Predators

By Movieguide® Contributor

A 3-year-old TikTok star sparked a social media movement among mothers who have now removed public photos and videos of their children from online spaces after they noticed a disturbing trend on the child’s content.

Makayla Musick is one such mom. “I just saw the posts on Tiktok and was absolutely appalled by the story and had decided that I needed to protect my daughter,” she explained.

Wren Eleanor, the toddler TikTok star at the center of the movement, has amassed more than 17 million followers on her account run by her mother, Jacquelyn.

While most of her videos show the toddler doing normal toddler things and some sponsored content, her mother began deleting some of the videos after followers noticed that some were being saved in concerning numbers.

One video of Wren in a cropped orange shirt was saved more than 45,000 times. Another video of the child eating a hotdog was saved nearly 375,000 times. One user, @hashtagfacts, noted the unsettling comments the videos received.

Not only can predators access these videos via the “save” feature on TikTok, but they can also use screen recordings and screenshots to add the content directly to their camera rolls.

Also, popular searches on her account include “Wren Eleanor hotdog” or “Wren Eleanor pickle,” revealing that users search explicitly for her content on both TikTok and Google.

The Daily Mail reports that mothers across TikTok have accused Jacquelyn of “knowingly exposing her daughter to pedophiles and predators” because she “receives payment for advertisements with her daughter.” They earn an estimated $13,000 per post.

After moms noticed the unusual activity on Wren’s account, they took it upon themselves to delete photos of their own children on public social media accounts.

“Wren’s story brought a lot of light to all the sick people in the world,” Musick shared. “So, I decided to remove my own daughter’s photos from anyone who is not close family/close friends. My duty as her mother is to protect her from things like this. I took the initiative to remove her photos before anything like Wren’s situation could happen to my own daughter.”

TikToker Kelso added, “Obviously there are creeps everywhere and they’re a lot of things you cannot control when it comes to protecting children. But you can control the content you post of your own children on social media.”

Another user, Danielle Tilley, said, “It’s the creeps’ fault and I agree, but the fact of the matter is they are out there and they are not leaving any time soon. And it is your job as a parent to protect your child.”

Calahan Walsh, executive director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), explains that people are comfortable sharing their children’s lives on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook and Instagram because they believe their followers have good intentions.

“But parents have to understand that when you’re putting this information out to the public, you’re opening up your world to the entire outside world,” Walsh said. “And anybody on these social media platforms — especially if your, if your page is public — Anybody in the entire world can view and consume the content that you’re putting out there.”

He explains that predators seek content that most users don’t see as harmful because they don’t “go directly to that dark place.”

“That’s what these predators are searching for. And because you’re putting that content up on social media, and you’re the ones sharing it, it’s not like they’re the ones creating… that type of content. They’re just consuming it,” he added.

Consuming the materials can be just the beginning, Walsh warns. After that, predators may begin directly targeting the child in person or online.

Walsh explains, “It’s very dangerous because we see individuals who prey on children who will try to coerce that child to make sexually explicit content, self-produced content, and send it to that exploiter.”

This “opens up the child to even more types of exploitation, grooming, luring, sextortion, online, enticement — all those things,” often threatening the child to receive more content.

Walsh encourages parents to teach their children online safety skills—most importantly, to never share too much personal information, including locations or seemingly innocent photos, online.

Parents have a duty to protect their children, and while removing photos of one’s child from public online profiles is one step, predators could already have that content saved.

“Think twice. Trust your gut. Understand there’s bad people out there. Try to keep your kids safe,” Walsh concluded.

Movieguide® previously reported on how TikTok encourages sexual abuse of minors: 

In a recent article published in Forbes, writer Alexandra S. Levine highlighted how TikTok allows and encourages sexual abuse of minors, especially young girls.

The article titled “How TikTok Live Became ‘A Strip Club Filled With 15-Year-Olds’” outlined how TikTok users exploit young girls for sexual photos and videos in exchange for petty cash.

Levine notes that comments like “$35 for a flash,” and “I’m 68 and you owe me one,” are common requests from male users to female minors on the video-sharing platform.

“These exchanges did not take place between adults at a nightclub; they took place on TikTok Live, where MJ, who said she was 14 years old, was broadcasting with friends to 2,000 strangers on a recent Saturday night,” Levine wrote.

TikTok boomed over the COVID-19 pandemic, jumping from 381M users in 2019 to over 700M in 2020.

According to Wallaroo Statistics, the platform has over 1 billion users as of April 2022.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.