As the world of social media grew, so did the presence of influencers who provided companies with a new way to market products and services. Who better to sell products to the everyday consumer than someone who is seemingly just like them? Among influencers, family influencers have emerged, using YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other platforms to share content, gain followers, and obtain these lucrative brand deals. Using hashtags like #familytiktok, #children, and #parentlife, these influencers market themselves as a family unit. The parents in these families, like the LaBrant Family and the Collins Kids, create content portraying their everyday lives with the children at the front and center of their content. The content drives their popularity and generates revenue. So, what’s the problem? While it may seem like harmless family fun, these children, often as young as newborns, don’t have a say in what is shared of them online and are at risk of financial exploitation.
The children of influencers are often thrown into the spotlight, having their childhood moments ranging from birthday parties to tantrums posted for millions of people to view. A young child cannot meaningfully consent to these videos as they lack the understanding of the implications of having their lives broadcast to so many people. It is also unlikely that parents truly understand the long-term implications this exposure may have on their child. With the significant income that family influencers rake in from brand deals and sponsorships, it may be easy for parents to let any concerns they may have fall to the wayside. Accounts with less followers can make around $600 per post while larger accounts make upwards of $10,000 or $20,000 per post. As subjects of these videos, the children are working and should be compensated.
We’ve seen something similar occur with child stars in Hollywood. With the rise of film and television, children were popular on the big screen but lacked legal protections to guard them against financial exploitation. In 1939, the Coogan Law, named after child-star Jackie Coogan (well known for his role as Uncle Fester in the Addams Family) was enacted. Jackie starred in several films with Charlie Chaplin and became quite popular. At the age of 21 and after the death of his father, Jackie realized he didn’t have rights to the large sums of money he made as a child.
The Coogan Law was amended in 2000 to solidify that a child actor’s earnings are the property of the minor, not their parents, and requires that at least 15% of their earnings be placed in a trust until they reach adulthood. However, the Coogan Law only applies to the traditional film and television industry and has yet to be extended to the growing world of social media, where children can generate a lot of revenue but remain unprotected. While California, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico have adopted protections for child actors, the same cannot be said for social media influencers. Social media is a more widespread and decentralized industry, making it a strong contender for federal legislation. We must learn from the past rather than wait for these child influencers to face a similar situation as Jackie Coogan and other child stars.
One state that has moved in the right direction is Illinois. In 2023, Illinois enacted legislation becoming the first and only state to successfully address this issue. The state law extends financial protections to children featured in social media content requiring that if a child under 16 appears in more than 30% of the content that generates revenue, a portion of the earnings must be set aside in a trust for the child. While the bill was unanimously passed in Illinois, Washington failed to pass legislation to address the issue, even after hearing testimony from now 24-year old Cam Barrett whose mother documented her childhood years on MySpace and Facebook. She testified about the emotional and psychological challenges that came with the documentation, detailing hiding in her room to avoid appearing on camera. Unlike Illinois, where the legislature recognized that children featured in social media content deserve protections like child actors, Washington failed to take action, leaving children in family influencer content largely unprotected.
On a federal level, we are far from a nation-wide solution to this problem. Although lawmakers like Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal have acknowledged that “involving kids in influencing raises serious risks of exploitation” and has expressed a desire for the government to pay more attention to the unregulated influencing industry, there has not been actions by the federal government to support this particular concern. Rather the federal government has introduced bills primarily focused on issues like cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and protecting privacy. For example, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bipartisan bill passed in the senate July 2024, strengthens privacy protections for minors and holds platforms accountable for creating a safer online environment. While efforts to protect children from certain content are important, they don’t address the unique challenges faced by children who are the content.
It is easy to internalize the belief that parents have their children’s best interest at heart in every situation. In many cases, this is probably true, but why leave it to chance? Rather than waiting for these children to reach adulthood and eventually seek legal remedies for mismanagement or other long-term consequences, we should confront this head on. These children, who are working and essential to the success of influencer families deserve, at the very least, the same legal protections as child actors. As the economy of social media continues to expand, it is crucial that lawmakers take steps to protect these children from financial and emotional harm.