Underage YouTube Stars Could Get Labor Protections in California

California legislators are proposing to extend financial protections to minors earning money as influencers on social media, in an update to the state’s longstanding law on child actors.

The rise of “kidfluencers,” who are gaining substantial and sometimes lucrative followings on websites like YouTube, has prompted growing concerns that minors who are emerging as celebrities in this new corner of the entertainment industry are vulnerable to financial exploitation.

The push comes after Illinois lawmakers approved the nation’s first financial protections for child influencers last year and as legislatures in several states consider similar measures.

The California Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a bill (S.B. 764) that would require parents producing and earning money off of videos or photos featuring their children to set aside revenue in a trust for the minors. A similar bill is advancing through the state Assembly.

Both pieces of legislation build on California’s first laws protecting child actors working in early Hollywood during the 1930s.

Ed Howard, senior counsel for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego, argued the legislation takes old, uncontroversial principles from California law and applies them to the digital world.

“I think it’s important the state where this problem was first acknowledged and addressed in the context of films and television likewise be a leader nationally in extending the same kinds of protections to children who are being exploited for money by their parents online,” he said.

$15,000 Threshold

The measure builds in part on what is known as the state’s Coogan Act, a law enacted during the late 1930s at the urging of Jackie Coogan, Charlie Chaplin’s costar in several films. Though a major celebrity at the time, Coogan received little of the money he earned and California became the first state to enact a law protecting the financial interests of child actors.

The bill would specifically cover anyone in the state earning more than $15,000 in a year from photos or videos that included children at least 30% of the time in a one-month period. That would be measured by the amount of time a child is featured in the content.

“We’re not talking about folks who are posting pictures of their new grandchildren for their family and friends,” said state Sen. Steve Padilla (D), the bill’s author.

Anyone creating content that meets this threshold would then have to set aside the minor’s share of the earnings in trust for the child and abide by specific record-keeping requirements.

A child deprived of their share of earnings could sue under the legislation.

But the measure would not give the social media companies that pay influencers the responsibility for enforcing the bill or apportioning earnings. Instead, that responsibility would fall to parents and guardians.

Padilla said in an interview that he is open to considering if social media platforms should play a larger role in the issue.

“It’s an area to be discussed and explored,” he said.

New Illinois Law

The pending bill is very similar to a new Illinois law (S.B. 1782), the first in the nation to address financial protections for child influencers.

Lawmakers on a bipartisan basis also are considering similar legislation in other states, with bills with nearly identical provisions are pending in the Washington, Missouri and Arizona legislatures.

Padilla’s bill has moved quickly, though, winning approval from two key committees this month and gaining two co-sponsors. The measure has not drawn any public opposition.

A similar bill (A.B. 1880) introduced by Assemblymember Juan Alanis (R) on Monday does not contain any of the specific monetary thresholds included in the Senate bill. Instead, it simply would add children working as paid online influencers to the state’s existing law protecting child actors, musicians, athletes and other artists—potentially covering a broader group of minors.