Illinois Senator Dave Koehler Leads Efforts to Protect Young Social Media Influencers

Illinois Leads the Way in Protecting Child Influencers

SPRINGFIELD – Young social media influencers gained safeguards and protections this month thanks to newly-enacted legislation led by State Senator Dave Koehler.

“Social media platforms have given our children new ways to connect, create, and make a living,” said Koehler (D-Peoria). “In many instances, parents use this opportunity to pocket the earnings while continuing to have their child make content for them.”

Senate Bill 1782 took effect July 1, extending protections under the Child Labor Law to minors age 16 or younger who are featured in vlogs or other online content. The law also requires the child – also known as a “kidfluencer” – to be accurately compensated.

The idea for the legislation came from Shreya Nallamothu, a high school student in Koehler’s district. Shreya brought her proposal to Koehler with concerns that money made by child influencers is not protected and is often kept by a parent or guardian for their own use.

“While scrolling on social media, I always saw young children and families, called family vlog channels, posting videos online. After finding that users could make money off of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, I learned that, often, these kids are made to participate in videos without any guarantee of the income generated from the content,” said Shreya. “I wanted to work with Senator Koehler to protect the money that these kids have rightfully earned.”

According to CBS News, kidfluencers with one million followers can earn $10,000 per sponsored post. With Koehler’s law taking effect, Illinois is the first state in the nation to protect child influencers and ensure they are appropriately compensated.

“As social media evolves, so should our laws,” said Koehler. “Illinois continues to lead the way in keeping our children safe online with forward-thinking legislation.”