Sexualization, cigarettes, and gambling: YouTube and influencers profit from a million-dollar network that exposes children and adolescents
- Rafaela Campos da Silva
- Jul 28
- 1 min read
The Intercept Brasil - July 28, 2025
A group of adults enriching themselves by exploiting the images of dozens of children, applauded by other children and adults. This is the business model of Dreams, an influencer marketing agency in Paraná that has created an ecosystem of influencers and YouTubers with over 30 million subscribers—and earning millions of reais annually.
Although YouTube moderates content published on the platform, this moderation is constantly under pressure from the platforms' commercial and economic interests, Bruno Mattos, project coordinator at NetLab at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), explained to The Intercept.
"It's often in the platforms' interest to keep certain content that is problematic and in violation of their own terms of service and community guidelines if it generates sufficient engagement. More engagement means more people see that video, and that video is recommended to more people, and therefore, more people become customers in this structure because they are constantly receiving ads," Mattos said.
