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California passed a law to financially protect children used in online content. But does it go far enough?

Children are now entitled to a certain amount of money from their appearances in monetized content, but experts say there’s still issues around enforcement, privacy and development when monetizing kids online.

Two people sit together in a cozy room; one uses a laptop, and the other holds a phone.
Evelyn and Alex Unruh review brand deals. Some states passed laws to ensure children who appear in monetized content online get paid for this. Arin Yoon for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Scroll through any of your social feeds and you’ll probably encounter a few #ads and sponsored content featuring influencers toting products like vitamin powders or teeth-whitening strips.

How much are they making for these posts? Probably more than you think.

According to journalist Stephanie McNeal, who wrote a book on influencing titled “Swipe Up for More!” the influencing industry generated approximately $21 billion in 2023. On an individual level, McNeal estimates that influencers with a couple thousand followers are making at least $10,000 per post.

Among these are “mommy bloggers” and family vlogs on YouTube where parents chronicle their family’s lives through photos and videos. Many tune in to this content, and all those eyes often mean sponsorship deals for the families. It’s not unusual to not only see kids in regular content, but in ads, pushing products along with their parents.

But where does this money from these deals go? While the children in these situations are “working” to be part of the content, there’s no guarantee they get the money from these often lucrative brand deals. But recently, California joined Illinois in passing a law to ensure children of influencers are compensated for their work.

California’s new law requires parents to track how much time their children appear in monetized content and how much they earn from these posts. But this is an imperfect approach, according to Northeastern experts. The law is very difficult to enforce and doesn’t address some of the other issues when it comes to kids’ online presence such as their lack of privacy and how being in the spotlight affects their social and emotional growth.

“There’s an access to justice problem,” said Hilary Robinson, an associate professor of law and sociology at Northeastern University. “You have to be a sophisticated minor with an awareness that the law exists and the ability to access legal counsel to get your remedy. The likelihood that this is effectively enforceable by any but the most well-connected kids is kind of a joke. It would surprise me if a case was ever brought.”

Under the California law, parents must establish a trust for their children who are entitled to a percentage of earnings based on how often they appear in content that generates at least 10 cents per view. Children in YouTube videos will have 15% of their earnings placed in a trust. If parents don’t adhere, their children can sue.

Illinois’ law, which was the first of its kind when it was passed this year, has similar issues with enforcement.

The law also doesn’t protect the children’s privacy. France adopted a law in 2020 that provided not only financial protections for the child influencers, but also “the right to be forgotten.” This means that platforms must take down content involving a child at their request. But Robinson said the U.S. Constitution doesn’t have the same protections for people’s privacy. 

In the meantime, the children of influencers have spoken out about how being used for content not only affected their family life, but their personal life, especially given how a large digital footprint might include information about them that their parents put online without their consent.

Joanna Weaver, assistant teaching professor of psychology at Northeastern University, said children might be accepting of their parents’ online content creation at first, given the amount of influence they hold over a child. But as the child gets older and realizes what’s going on, they might feel uneasy realizing what’s out there online.

“We used to keep diaries when we were younger, and maybe there would be this terror that somebody would sign it and read our private thoughts,” Weaver said. “I almost feel like that’s gone. That the line between private and public is very blurry. I think that (sharing a child’s life online) is probably a violation. I think (children) will … probably accept a lot of exposure when they’re young, and it won’t be until they start to feel self conscious that they would object, and at that point, they discover private stories or pictures of them had been circulating. I think that could feel like a betrayal and an embarrassment.”

Weaver said while there has not been a lot of research on how being used in online content can impact children, there is evidence children can be influenced by the ads they see online. Similarly, Weaver said children used in online content sponsoring certain items might not be able to get a sense of what they like when they’re being pushed to use or promote certain products to make money.

“They’re participating in this consumer culture, and they become a product,” she said. “I think that’s a problem for us as a society, because instead of being socialized into a family with values or a culture, they’re just being socialized as a market. Everything to them is monetized and commercialized. You’re constantly thinking about consumerism, like, am I playing with the cool toy? They’re so oriented towards those social rewards … instead of thinking about it internally, which is really important for us to develop.”