Can Child Influencer Regulations Affect Custody

 Posted on August 07, 2024 in Child Custody / Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

Children under 16 who earn money on social media via an adult are now subject to a new Illinois law designed to protect them. As of July 1, any adult who is financially compensated for sharing information about children under 16 online will be required to put a certain percentage of the profits into a blocked trust for the child. Minors are also allowed to sue their parents or other adults who profited from content that included the child yet failed to safeguard the money.

The question now is how a parent making money from their child’s frequent appearance on social media might affect their allocation of parental responsibility or child support. Perhaps a parent in the middle of a custody dispute believes the other parent's social media exposure of the child is not healthy or safe for the child. If the child is young, the other parent might even believe the exposure is exploitative. While this is a relatively new area, those in this situation should speak to a knowledgeable Naperville, IL child custody attorney from Calabrese Associates, P.C..

Overview of the New Illinois Law Regarding Child Influencers—and Why It Was Necessary

Illinois Public Act 103-0556, which stems from SB 1782, went into effect on July 1, 2024. It amends the Child Labor Law to include children featured on their parents’ or caregivers’ social media sites. Specifically, if a child under 16 is in at least 30 percent of a video or online content for which the adult is being paid within a 30-day period, the child must be paid.

The adult is responsible for setting aside gross earnings in a trust account that the child is entitled to receive when they turn 18. The social media content the bill addresses is sometimes called "sharenting" or "family vlogs," which document day-to-day life. An influencer with more than a million followers can easily earn as much as $20,000 for one sponsored post.

For those with under 100,000 followers, the amount for one sponsored post could still be as high as $4,000. This new Illinois law does not include an enforcement mechanism; rather, it allows children to take legal action once they become adults if their parent or guardian fails to follow the law.

Consider the case of a young boy whose parents created the YouTube video series named "Ryan’s World" when he was six. Today, there are 37 million subscribers. The estimated net worth of the parents and child after six years is more than $100 million.

How Do These Social Media Posts Factor into the Allocation of Parental Responsibility?

A parent asking for primary allocation of parental responsibility—or one that has already received this level of parental responsibility—may be making substantial amounts of money by involving the child in their social media posts. If the child is relatively young, they have little say in being in these videos and may even think they are "fun." But what if the other parent believes having videos of their child across the internet is inherently unsafe? Perhaps the other parent believes the child does not really want to be involved in the videos but does it to please the parent making the videos?

 Should the money the parent and child are making affect child support payments by the other parent? Or, in light of this new law, what if the non-custodial parent believes the parent making the videos is not putting money back for the child? If custody is in question during a divorce, these issues can be presented to the court. If the allocation of parental responsibility has already been determined, then the social media appearances issue may need to be revisited in court to have a judge issue a post-decree modification.  

Contact a DuPage County, IL Allocation of Parental Responsibility Attorney

As noted, these are relatively new issues, and the laws are struggling to keep up with technology. Some states are considering the same law as Illinois just implemented, while others are considering even stronger laws to protect children. Since videos posted on the internet are basically there forever, there are issues related to the child’s privacy as well. Having a knowledgeable Naperville, IL child custody attorney as a strong advocate for you and your child is essential. Contact Calabrese Associates, P.C. at 630-393-3111 to speak to a highly skilled family law attorney.