California Passes Laws to Protect the Financial Security of Powerful Children

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills Thursday aimed at protecting the earnings of child influencers and content creators.

Newsom signed SB 764 into law, which requires content creators with at least 30% of their content featuring children to contribute a proportionate portion of their earnings to minors’ trust funds.

State Sen. Steve Padilla originally introduced SB 764 in December after passing a similar bill aimed at protecting the earnings of impacted children in Illinois in August 2023.

Newsom also signed AB 1880, introduced by Assemblyman Juan Alanis, which expands the Coogan Act regarding minors appearing in revenue-generating online content. The Coogan Act, passed in 1939, protects child entertainers by requiring parents to put 15% of a minor’s earnings into a trust fund.

More states have introduced laws in hopes of protecting children’s content creators.

“Old Hollywood used child actors,” Newsom said in a press release Thursday. “In 2024, it will now be child influencers. Today, this modern-day exploitation ends thanks to two new laws protecting young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms.”

He was accompanied by pop star and former Disney Channel actress Demi Lovato, who recently filmed a documentary about the impact fame can have on a child entertainer’s well-being.

In a portion of the documentary titled “Child Star,” Lovato asks questions and interviews experts about the lack of protection for child influencers, especially when compared to child actors in traditional entertainment.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing more than 150,000 film and television performers, praised Newsom for introducing the expanded protections.

“Regardless of medium or platform, all child performers must be subject to strict protections,” Crabtree-Ireland said.