CHILD ADULTIFICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: CIVIL LIABILITY OF LEGAL GUARDIANS AND STATE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

This article analyzes child adultification on social media as a contemporary phenomenon of violation of the personality rights of children and adolescents, with emphasis on the civil liability of legal guardians and state protection in the digital environment. The research problem seeks to determine to what extent the exposure of minors on digital platforms, when associated with hypersexualization, image monetization, sharenting, and oversharenting, constitutes a civil wrongdoing capable of triggering the liability of guardians and the duty of state protection. The study adopts a qualitative approach, with a deductive method and a bibliographic-documentary procedure, based on the systematic analysis of the Federal Constitution, the Child and Adolescent Statute, the Civil Code, the Brazilian Internet Civil Framework, and the General Data Protection Law, as well as recent legal doctrine and scientific literature on the subject. The findings indicate that the excessive digital exposure of minors, particularly when promoted or consented to by parents for engagement, visibility, or economic purposes, exceeds the limits of parental authority and may constitute a violation of dignity, image, privacy, and the free development of personality. It is concluded that the civil liability of legal guardians has reparatory, preventive, and pedagogical functions, while the effectiveness of integral protection requires stronger state action through regulatory, supervisory, and institutional mechanisms to safeguard the fundamental rights of children and adolescents in the digital sphere.