Measure to protect children from social media 'influencer' parents now Illinois law

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a measure into law that sets up a trust fund for a child being used as a social media influencer by their parents or guardian.

Senate Bill 1782, filed by state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, was recently signed in to law by Pritzker. Beginning next July, the law sets up protections for children of parents who have earned money by using their child's likeness on social media platforms.

The law provides that a video blogger who features a minor child in 30% of their content shared on online platforms like YouTube, Twitter, TikTok or others must set aside 15% of gross earnings on the video content in a trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the minor upon reaching 18 years old.

The bill cleared the General Assembly in May.

Koehler said the idea came to him from a 15-year-old student worried about the negative effect social media could have on an individual.

"She was concerned about the risks of children being used in vlogging on the internet. Especially when it was monetized and large sums of money were being created by their families in doing that," Koehler said during the spring legislative session.

According to Humanium.org, child influencers have generated an estimated $8 billion off of social media with the most successful children generating up to $26 million a year through advertising and the sharing of sponsored content.

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, supported the measure during spring session and said the law is needed due to the amount of money at stake and because of how the world has changed.

"We have got a changing world. It is changing very, very rapidly all the time," McClure said. "This is legislation to adapt to a changing world."

The law says the child may also make a request to the parents or court seeking the deletion of any of the content they were featured in upon turning 18.