Under new California regulations, parents will have to allocate a portion of their earnings to people who influence their children

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California parents who profit from social media posts featuring their children will be required to give a portion of their earnings to their minor influencers under two agreements signed Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Nearly 80 years ago, California led the nation in establishing ground rules to protect child performers from financial abuse, but those rules need updating, Newsom said. Current law covers children working in films and television, but does not cover minors who appear on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

Family vlogs, in which influencers share details of their daily lives with countless strangers on the Internet, have become a popular and lucrative way to make money for many.

In addition to coordinated dances and hilarious kid commentary, today family vlogs can share intimate details of their children’s lives – grades, potty training, illnesses, misbehavior, first periods – for strangers to see. Brand deals involving internet favorites can bring in tens of thousands of dollars per film, but there is minimal regulation of the “shareholding” industry, which experts say can cause serious harm to children.

“Much has changed since Hollywood’s early days, but here in California, our focus on protecting children from abuse remains the same,” he said in a statement. “Old Hollywood used child actors. In 2024, these are now child influencers. Today, this modern-day exploitation ends with two new laws protecting young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms.”

California’s child protection laws on social media align with Illinois’ first-in-the-nation legislation, which went into effect in July of this year. California’s measures apply to all children under 18, while Illinois’ law covers children under 16.

California’s solutions, which received enormous support from both parties, require parents and guardians who earn money from their children’s presence on the Internet to ensure that stars trust them. Among other things, parents will have to keep track of how many minutes children appear on their online content and how much money they make from those posts.

The regulations award child influencers a percentage of their earnings based on their frequency of appearance on video blogs or online content that generates at least 10 cents per view. Children can sue their parents for failing to follow these recommendations.

Children employed as content creators on platforms such as YouTube will also have at least 15% of their earnings deposited into a trust once they turn 18. Current state law has provided such protection for child actors since 1939, after silent-era child actor Jackie Coogan sued his parents for squandering his earnings.

The new regulations will come into force next year.

The legislation has the support of The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and singer Demi Lovato, a former child star who has spoken publicly about child molestation.

“To build a better future for the next generation of child stars, we must ensure protections for minors working in the digital space,” Lovato said in a statement. “I am grateful to Governor Newsom for taking action on an update to the Coogan Act that will ensure that children featured on social media, once they reach the age of majority, are properly compensated for the use of their name and likeness.”

The new regulations protecting child influencers are part of Newsom’s ongoing efforts to address the impact of social media on children’s mental health. Earlier this month, Newsom also signed legislation aimed at restricting students’ access to phones in schools and prohibiting social media platforms from knowingly providing addictive content to children without parental consent.