{"id":1407216,"date":"2023-08-18T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1407216"},"modified":"2023-08-18T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T04:20:00","slug":"child-social-media-stars-can-now-sue-influencer-parents-under-new-illinois-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/child-social-media-stars-can-now-sue-influencer-parents-under-new-illinois-law\/1407216\/","title":{"rendered":"Child Social Media Stars Can Now Sue ‘Influencer’ Parents Under New Illinois Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Child Social Media Stars Can Now Sue ‘Influencer’ Parents Under New Illinois Law<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

Child social media stars in Illinois can now sue their “influencer” parents for pocketing the profits made from videos shared online under new legislation signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Aug. 11.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat on mobile devices in a combination of 2017\u20132022 photos. (AP Photo)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The legislation, Senate Bill 1782<\/a>, was introduced by state Sen. David Koehler, a Democrat, in February and passed by lawmakers in Illinois\u2014where Democrats hold a supermajority\u2014in May with bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

It is set to go into effect on July 1, 2024.<\/p>\n

Under the measure, the\u00a0Child Labor Law is amended to ensure that\u00a0children under 16 who are featured in significant portions of their parents’ online videos\u2014such as vlogs uploaded by their parents across various social media platforms\u2014are fairly compensated for their work.<\/p>\n

The legislation also allows minors\u00a0who were “engaged\u00a0in the work of vlogging,” also known as\u00a0“kidfluencers,”\u00a0to request their parents permanently delete any video footage of them once they reach the age of 18.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additionally, the bill\u00a0ensures that parents who feature their children in online videos or vlogs set aside\u00a0a specified amount of gross earnings into a trust account for their children, who may access it once they reach 18.<\/p>\n

Illinois is the first U.S. state to sign such legislation into law.<\/p>\n

Kids Working in ‘Digital Environments’ Must Be Protected<\/h2>\n

In a statement after the bill was signed into law,\u00a0Mr. Koehler said the\u00a0rise of social media has granted children new opportunities to earn a profit but noted how some parents or guardians are choosing to take the earnings for their own use.<\/p>\n

“Many parents have taken this opportunity to pocket the money, while making their children continue to work in these digital environments,<\/strong>” said Mr. Koehler. “This new digital age has given us tremendous opportunities to connect with one another, but it\u2019s also presented legal issues that have never existed before. We need to work with our children to see the problems they face and tackle them head-on before any further harm is done.”<\/p>\n

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a rally at Federal Building Plaza in Chicago on April 27, 2022. (Scott Olson\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Koehler noted the legislation was inspired by\u00a0Shreya Nallamothu, a 15-year-old high school student in Koehler\u2019s district who had initially raised her concerns about the rise in\u00a0child influencers and a lack of protections for them.<\/p>\n

“When scrolling on social media, I always saw young children and families, called family vlog channels, posting videos online. After finding that users could make money off of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, I learned that, often, these kids are made to participate in videos without any guarantee of the income generated from the content,” said Shreya. “I wanted to work with Senator Koehler to protect the money that these kids have rightfully earned.”<\/p>\n

Specifically under Senate Bill 1782,\u00a0parents must set aside a portion of their gross earnings from the video content that includes the “likeness, name, or photograph of the minor”\u00a0into a trust fund for the child that can be accessed\u00a0upon adulthood.<\/p>\n

Billion Dollar Industry<\/h2>\n

The percentage of earnings is calculated based on how heavily the child features in the content. According to the legislation,\u00a0a minor under the age of 16 must be compensated if,\u00a0within a 30-day period, they feature in at least 30 percent of a video or online content for which their parent or guardian is being paid.<\/p>\n

However, the law only applies to video content made in Illinois that generates more than 10 cents per view.<\/p>\n

Parents who fail to comply with the new legislation could be sued by their child or children once they become adults for punitive and actual damages,\u00a0according to the law.<\/p>\n

The legislation comes amid a booming child influencer industry.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Humanium.org, highly successful child influencers generate roughly\u00a0$26 million a year through advertising and the sharing of sponsored content,<\/strong> but many are under constant pressure to produce content on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

However, many studies have also noted the negative impacts social media can have on a minor’s well-being, including increased feelings of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

Research conducted by\u00a0the University of Bath and published<\/a> in May found that individuals who\u00a0stopped using social media for one week saw substantial improvements in their well-being, depression, and anxiety.<\/p>\n

“The internet provides more opportunities for children to display their creativity than ever before,” a spokesperson for Mr. Pritzker told Gizmodo in a statement<\/a> Monday. “In the event that minors are able to profit from that creativity, they deserve to be shielded from parents who would attempt to take advantage of their child\u2019s talents and use them for their own financial gain.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 08\/17\/2023 – 20:20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/child-social-media-stars-can-now-sue-influencer-parents-under-new-illinois-law<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Child Social Media Stars Can Now Sue ‘Influencer’ Parents Under New Illinois Law Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Child social…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1407216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1407216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1407216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1407216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1407216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}