Social Media and Social Reform: Why States Should Consider Protecting the Rising Kidfluencers

Authors

Rina Wong, Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of LawFollow

Abstract

The rise of social media in the twenty-first century has led to multi-million-dollar careers for influencers, adults, and children alike. Similarly, the rise of child influencers, often colloquially coined as “kidfluencers,” have raised legal issues because kidfluencers are currently unprotected by child labor laws. The Coogan Law, enacted in 1939 to protect child performers in California and similar laws across the United States do not currently apply to kidfluencers. This places kidfluencers at a severe risk of having their financial earnings squandered by their parents or guardians managing their funds.

Fortunately for kidfluencers, legislators both domestically and internationally have started to recognize their vulnerability. In 2023, Illinois passed Public Act 103-0556 (Illinois Act), the first law to protect kidfluencers legally and financially. The Illinois Act took effect on July 1, 2024, and amended the state’s current Child Labor Law statute. Minnesota has become the second state to amend its state law to protect kidfluencers, effective July 1, 2025. Parents or guardians of eligible kidfluencers in the state of Illinois and Minnesota must set aside the minor’s earnings in a trust account that will become available to the minor once he or she turns eighteen. Additionally, in Minnesota, kidfluencers are afforded the “right to be forgotten,” which entitles the kidfluencer to request deletion of any content that features the kidfluencer when he or she was a minor.

Other states such as Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington are making progress to pass kidfluencer-specific legislation in their respective states. Internationally, in 2021, France became the first country to protect the interests of kidfluencers when its Parliament amended the French Labor Code to include kidfluencers, among other significant changes.

Recommended Citation

Rina Wong, Social Media and Social Reform: Why States Should Consider Protecting the Rising Kidfluencers, 77 SMU L. Rev. 901 (2024)