Justin Bieber’s father, Jeremy Bieber, is under fire for sharing pictures of his 6-year-old daughter in bathing suits on Instagram, inviting the attention of child predators and their disturbing remarks.
The pop star’s young half-sister Bay Bieber’s social media page is run by her parents, as also clarified on her page’s bio. Although the page may have been dedicated to documenting the 6-year-old’s happy moments, her father has been slammed for considerably pushing her into the spotlight, much like Justin faced stardom at a young age and earned the pop star badge in his formative teen years.
Scrolling through Bay’s Instagram page, which currently has over 351K followers, social media users will find nearly 400 posts that capture Bay enjoying life as a Cheer Sport Sharks cheerleader, or simply enjoying moments with her friends and family. The “Peaches” hit-maker also makes special appearances in quite a few posts now and then. Moving up and down through the page photographically chronicles Bay’s growth from a toddler to a young cheerleader, revelling in the sparkly life of athleticism.
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From the moment baby Bay was born, she has been an adorable focus of her father’s camera lens. However, there’s no stopping certain unwarranted remarks and predators on the Internet. As a non-follower, you may see that the posts on her Instagram have now been limited. The first picture shared on the account in August 2018, days after Bay was born, shows her newborn self sleeping and the caption says, “Hi.” Her IG has since gradually amassed quite a bit of traction and engagement. According to the UK tabloid Daily Mail, most of her following accounts for fellow young girls and their mothers privy to the cheerleading routines.
Experts and some Instagram users call out Bay Bieber’s parents
Nevertheless, the unsettling side of social media has rarely stayed in a corner. The outlet has heard from experts that a growing number of adult males have also slid onto the younger side of the Internet. Further analysis of Bay Bieber’s account through the social media research platform Modash revealed that about 20% of the young girl’s followers are men, registered between the ages of 18 and 34.
An Instagrammer chimed in, commenting under a picture of three-month-old Bay in a swimsuit, “Bikinis and little clothing on babies puts them at risk of being stalked by predators online. It all starts [with] parents posting too much about [their] baby.” Someone else also wrote on a picture, “How many pedophiles like this picture though?!?! Please be careful @jeremybieber and @chelseybieber!! And be aware. That stuff ain’t cool.”
Lori Cohen, CEO of Protect All Children from Trafficking, told the Mail, “[Instagram is] commonly known to be a leading site visited by pedophiles looking for images of children.” Cohen added, “’A parent would not set loose their bikini-clad child in a room full of pedophiles. Why would they post an image of that same child online where they will potentially be viewed and – even more frightening – contacted by many thousands of them?”
The New York Times’ February probe into 5,000 IG accounts dedicated to children and managed by their parents found that most young girls’ accounts often become a front profiting off kids financially for advertising a brand. Bay’s page also often catches children’s cheerleading uniform ‘Rebel Athletic’ tagged on her photos. However, no evidence supports the argument that her parents are making money through their young girl’s Instagram account.
Emma Woodward at the Child Mind Institute also commented, “Kids and teenagers don’t have the executive functioning skills to understand the implications of what they’re doing. They can’t legally give consent for what their parents are posting about them.”
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Disturbing comments under Bay Bieber’s photos on the rise
Considering her growing popularity as a young cheerleader, Bay is often seen wearing cheer outfits and even bikinis. A deep dive into some comments left on the 6-year-old’s page recorded a disturbing trend’s development. A three-month-old picture of Bay in a bikini saw a male user worryingly comment, “shawty maaaad thiccc” with a drolling face emoji.
More 120-weeks-old comments on her page revealed the discomfitting tone of comments take over in remarks like, “she’s just a baby but…. (mischievous face emoji X2),” “Your legs are very perfect (fire emoji) looks so great and cute (heart emoji),” and “She kinda bad tho.” The same account reportedly wrote for another pic this year, calling the 6-year-old girl as “my mini crush.”
A post over four years old again pictured three male users unloading their view, with one saying “I want it,” on another one of Bay’s swimwear clicks.
Sources close to Bieber critical of former child star’s parents for letting him excessively party with adult celebrities
This deep dive into Bay’s Instagram account comes at a time when already concerning speculations about a young Justin Bieber and his ties with disgraced rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are at an all-time high.
Earlier this month, the UK tabloid reported that a lot of people around the former child star have questioned his parents, Jeremy and Pattie Mallete’s intentions behind permitting their 15-year-old son to become close friends with a grown adult like Diddy. Again, there’s no such evidence proving that the pop star’s parents were privy to the hip-hop mogul’s alleged criminal record at the time. However, sources close to the singer said he “should never have been allowed to party with Diddy or anyone else when he was a teen.”