ELLE* sits on a sofa with only a magazine covering her chest. The words “Cheap Thrills”;; are printed in bold font for her admiring subscribers who respond “Oh my, oh my”;; and “Super wow”;;.
She lets them know that more can be seen if they want to pay. But, worryingly, this girl isn’t on – and she isn’t even 18 years old.
In fact, the images posted online are on her BrandArmy account, apparently run by the 17-year-old’s parents.
It’s an online site, founded in the US back in 2021, that lets up-and-coming stars (aged 13 and over) post exclusive content and talk one-on-one with their fans – either for free or with a paid subscription – which has seen it dubbed “OnlyFans for kids”;;.
Sarah Adams, a mum and campaigner for child safety online, said: “BrandArmy is often compared to OnlyFans, but it doesn’t do nudity.”;;
During the summer of 2021, Sarah started her crusade to raise awareness about problems that come with “sharenting”;;, child exploitation and minor safety on social media.
She slams sites like BrandArmy saying: “If [any] whole account is of a kid – it’s child exploitation,”;; adding that “children deserve the right to privacy, informed consent and digital safety.â ”;;
On BrandArmy, fans need to be 18 or over to subscribe – but those making the content can be as young as 13.
Many have questioned why a company would create a model where young creators share images of themselves that only adults can buy.
Other images show Elle posing in swimwear and are posted to the platform for “subscribers”;;, who can pay for exclusive content from their favourite creators.
On her fan page, some of the content from the site has been shared for the whole world to see.
A full body shot of her in a tiny pink bikini has been flooded with comments like “you give love butterflies”;;, “so pretty”;;, “perfect”;;, “sexy”;; and “goddess”;; – and they all appear to be from men.
Subscribers need to pay just £75 a month for more exclusive content, and to chat with the teenager one-on-one.
Much like OnlyFans, creators can set their own subscription pricing and different tiers depending on the content they create.
And the site claims they’ve “had creators make $100,000 in just their first five days of launching their BrandArmy channel”;;.
A recent subscription-only package of photos she had up for grabs, on her parent-managed account, read: “Don’t let the preview fool you, this is THE largest bundle I have ever shared... hopefully my page won’t get shut down because omgggg, these poses.”;;
This is just one example found by Fabulous where predatory men are seemingly using this little-known site to make inappropriate and sexual comments to underage girls.
GROOMING SURGE
Often, the girls on the site are and must have at least 10,000 social media subscribers or a referral link to join BrandArmy.
Sadly, like many tech companies, BrandArmy is the latest to exploit the fact that almost one in three preteens say influencing is a career goal – while 11 per cent of those born between 1997 and 2012 describe themselves as influencers.
Children’s charity NSPCC revealed that 84 per cent of victims of online grooming are girls, often between the ages of 12 and 15.
BrandArmy says it is set to change its policy later this year so that only those over 18 can create content on the site.
While the company says junior accounts still on their site are always parent-run (much like Instagram’s policy) it seems to be doing nothing to stop predators taking advantage.
The site was created four years ago but came into the spotlight earlier this year thanks to the show Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
It follows teen influencer Piper Rockelle, 17, and her “momager”;; Tiffany Smith, who formed a group of influencers called “The Squad”;; on YouTube.
Piper also famously has a BrandArmy account but parents of those children who have worked with the mum and daughter duo slam it as exploitative, and claim her poses promote paedophilia.
There’s a lot of good people out there. There’s probably a lot of bad people out there, but you can’t control who follows you and who doesn’t.
Piper RockelleTeen Influencer
While it’s not illegal and the site does not allow nude images (bikini pics are up for grabs though), it does pose the ethical question: who is purchasing this content from minors?
CREEPY COMMENTS
In the , some of Piper’s content can be seen where she dresses up as a “bride”;; with a white veil, bralet and a short skirt despite being just 17.
Considering subscribers are 18 or older, the comments on the video appear to be leading down a dark and dangerous path.
“You’re soooo hot,”;; one user wrote, while another demanded she “take that bikini off”;;.
Those who do subscribe and pay for the content are also protected by having anonymous accounts.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Piper was asked if she worries about her BrandArmy subscribers’ intentions, or who may actually be requesting these photos.
She confessed she doesn’t “because you’re well aware of what happens on the internet”;;.
Piper continued: “So I just let it be. There’s a lot of good people out there. There’s probably a lot of bad people out there.
“But you can’t control who follows you and who doesn’t. Because if they’re supporting you, then let them support you.”;;
Currently, Piper’s BrandyArmy account says it is “parent managed”;; and those who subscribe to the most expensive tier at $100 a month can “request custom looks”;; from the creator.
Many social media sites have put policies in place to attempt to stop younger children from having an account.
BrandArmy told The Sun: “Identity checks were done on all parents and junior creators.
“The restriction on posts by users under 18 is a standard established by major social media platforms, not by us.
“Those 18 or older to purchase is a standard of credit card companies not us.
“So under 18 to post and 18 or older to buy is therefore emulated by the incumbent social media platforms and what we followed.
“There are no credit card companies that allow for purchasers to be under 18 because they do not qualify to apply or be approved for a credit card when under 18.
“So the aforementioned were simply standards that we had to follow.”;;
DARK PATH
Instagram and BrandArmy say those under 18 must have a parent-managed account to keep them protected from online grooming.
Some parents see allowing their child to do online influencing as a way to make them successful later in life and as a way to earn , but this can lead down a dark path.
Two years ago in Louisiana, a mum was arrested and charged with working with a photographer to produce illegal images of her daughter in a thong bikini, reports The New York Times.
Her numbers are so big. What do we do? Just stop it and walk away?
Teen Influencer's Mum
In December of the same year, a Texas mum was sentenced to 32 years in for producing nude photos of her eight-year-old daughter with the same photographer.
And another mother in North Carolina is awaiting trial on charges that she took her 15-year-old daughter to a photographer who sexually abused her – and then failed to get medical help when the girl tried to kill herself, according to court documents.
These cases aren’t related to content posted on BrandArmy, but illustrate a shocking wider issue.
And while these arrests are rare, it doesn’t mean online child exploitation is.
Instagram’s parent company, , found that 500,000 child Instagram accounts had “inappropriate”;; interactions every day, according to an internal study in 2020 quoted in legal proceedings.
I’ve been stupidly, naïvely, feeding a pack of monsters, and the regret is huge.
Teen Influencer's Mum
And those who enjoy looking at images of young girls know just how difficult it is to press charges.
“As long as this stuff legally exists, I just enjoy it :),”;; one of them wrote on Telegram.
“Exactly,”;; another responded. “It’s all over Instagram.”;;
CAUGHT IN A TRAP
It seems some mums are willing to turn a blind eye to the presence of predators on social media.
“I really don’t want my child exploited on the internet,”;; a mother in , Australia, told the New York Times. “But she’s been doing this so long now.
“Her numbers are so big. What do we do? Just stop it and walk away?”;;
After spending most of her childhood being snapped in bikinis to upload online, the mum now says her daughter has “written herself off”;; and only sees a future in cashing in on OnlyFans.
“With the wisdom and knowledge I have now, if I could go back, I definitely wouldn’t do it,”;; she said. “I’ve been stupidly, naïvely, feeding a pack of monsters, and the regret is huge.”;;
Regarding its own measures to keep kids safe, BrandArmy told The Sun: “Content guidelines created (for BrandArmy) are much stronger than any social media incumbent platform.
“There are no social media platforms with the level of guidelines we implemented.
“By design there was friction to make it more difficult to be able to have an account while anyone under 18 can open an account on social media platforms.
“All content shared on BrandArmy is similar to content seen on the large social media platforms but is under greater scrutiny, with tens of thousands of pieces of individual media that have been removed or didn’t pass our content moderation.”;;
“Suggestive comments happen at scale at the large incumbent social media platforms.
“Suggestive comments are challenging because you’re always in a reactive position to them happening.
“No platform has a perfect solution other than relying on moderation and users to help bring these to attention and removing the bad actors.”;;
Delving Deeper
To understand how BrandArmy works, Fabulous Reporter Leanne Hall decided to create an account.
It was simple enough and instantly gives you a randomly generated username to keep your personal life private.
What was difficult to navigate was finding creators to follow.
A small search bar pops up with around five random accounts. Many of the ones generated were young women between the ages of 17 to 22.
The website makes it hard to search for profiles unless you already have their unique profile link, which can be found on their other social media sites.
Not surprisingly, users have found a way around it.
A quick search of BrandArmy on other social media platforms leads you down a path of suggestive images and videos from the site being shared.
One Instagram account collected images and videos from multiple girls clearly under the age of 18, claiming to be from BrandArmy.
While the site claims content is protected in a secure, enterprise-grade, encrypted vault, it was easy for me to take screenshots of users’ accounts and their images – something groomers have taken advantage of.
BrandArmy responded: “The content being safe is a server-side feature for all content hosted.
“Anyone can screenshot any content on any browser. Browsers control the screenshot feature. No platform or website on the internet can stop screenshots.”;;
DAMAGE DONE
The NSPCC reveals online grooming cases against children have increased by 86 per cent in the last six years.
And Dr Huriye Atilgan, founder of Trusted Apps for Kids (TAK) Index, says BrandArmy isn’t doing enough to keep children protected.
She explained: “One of the main red flags is that BrandArmy allows creators as young as 13 to join with parental consent.
“That’s worrying when the platform’s core design encourages private, monetised interactions.
“Even though its terms state that subscribers must be over 18, there’s little to stop inappropriate communication from slipping through the cracks.
“The responsibility to maintain boundaries often falls to the creators themselves, many of whom are still children.
“BrandArmy’s lack of robust age verification and its limited transparency around moderation only add to the problem.
“Without collaboration with child protection organisations or visible safety policies, it’s unclear how grooming risks are being managed (or if they’re being prioritised at all).
“The platform needs far stronger safeguards: identity checks for all users, not just creators; clear logging of direct messages; and behaviour-based monitoring that flags suspicious activity before it escalates.
“Automated systems are a start, but they must be backed by trained moderators who understand the tactics used by predators and know how to act quickly.”;;
POLICY CHANGE
BrandArmy says: “We stopped accepting new junior creators around November 2023.
“We removed dozens of junior creator accounts since then with around 10-15 currently left. There are no junior creators aged 13, 14 or 15.”;;
While a specific date hasn’t been released yet, BrandArmy plans to move subscribers 18 and older onto a new platform and get rid of all junior accounts.
Those 13 or older are still allowed to post and in the past, the site allowed ‘junior accounts’ for those under 13 so long as they were managed by a parent, (those with junior accounts on the site currently are also under the same rules).
While these accounts may be banned now, images are still circulating online, allowing sick child predators to get their kicks no matter which social media platform.
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
