In a move to safeguard the earnings of child influencers, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two significant bills into law on Thursday. These new laws aim to protect the financial interests of minors who are increasingly featured in monetized online content, particularly on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
The first bill, SB 764, introduced by State Senator Steve Padilla in December 2023, mandates that content creators featuring minors in 30% or more of their content set aside a proportional percentage of their earnings in trust accounts for the children. This law follows the footsteps of a similar initiative passed in Illinois earlier in 2023, which was designed to protect child influencers from financial exploitation.
Governor Newsom also signed AB 1880, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Juan Alanis. This legislation expands the existing Coogan Law, originally passed in 1939 to protect child actors’ earnings, to include minors featured in monetized online content. Under the updated law, parents are required to deposit 15% of the child’s earnings into a trust account for their future use.
The explosion of social media has led to a new generation of child influencers, often featured in vlogs and family content, garnering millions of views and substantial revenue. However, many have raised concerns about the lack of financial protection for these minors. Without laws in place, some children are vulnerable to exploitation, with their earnings entirely controlled by adults or parents.
“In old Hollywood, child actors were exploited,” Governor Newsom said in a statement. “In 2024, it’s now child influencers. Today, that modern exploitation ends through two new laws to protect young influencers.”
With California leading the way, other states are expected to follow suit by introducing similar legislation to ensure child content creators’ financial security. More than 15 million child influencers and social media personalities across the U.S. could potentially benefit from these protections.
As the popularity of monetized family and child-centric content grows, these laws mark a pivotal step in ensuring children have access to their earnings and are safeguarded from exploitation. Newsom’s legislation sets a precedent for protecting the financial rights of minors in the digital age.
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