25-03-2025
Utah Passed a Law to Protect Child Influencers
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Utah, has become the latest state to legislate protections for child influencers, after Governor Spencer Cox signed HB 322 into law.
State Rep. Doug Owens (D-UT) first opened the discussion on HB 322 in October of 2024. The hearing featured comments from Shari Franke, the 21-year-old daughter of former YouTube vlogging royalty and convicted child abuser Ruby Franke. 'I don't come today as the daughter of a felon, nor a victim of an abnormally abusive mother. I come today as a victim of family vlogging,' she said. 'My goal is not to present any idea of a solution to this problem, but to shed light on the ethical and monetary issues that come from being a child influencer. There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger.'
Though there isn't data on how many mom influencers and family vloggers live in each state, experts point to Utah as a hot bed for these kinds of content creators.
'Utah is ground zero for mom influencers,' says Jo Piazza, host of the podcast Under the Influence, which examines the role of mom influencers. 'It's where the movement started and there are likely more mom influencers in Utah than anywhere else in the country. The fact that the state is cracking down is a huge deal and I think we will see other states follow suit by instituting their own protections. It still isn't enough to regulate this industry, but it is a good start.'
Under the new Utah law, parents who make at least $150,000 per calendar year and feature their minor children in monetized or sponsored social media content must maintain a record of that content for at least two years and establish a trust into which a percentage of any earnings must be transferred to be held until the child reaches the age of 18. The formula for the percentage of earnings involves a calculation between the minor's earnings, the paid minutes featuring the qualified minor, and the preceding month's income from social media, among other factors.
The Utah legislation also stipulates that, upon reaching the age of 18, an individual may 'request that a content creator delete or edit any social media content' featuring the individual as a minor. Though there are laws addressing the profits of influencer kids in Illinois, Minnesota, and California, only the Minnesota law includes the privacy protections that are present in the Utah law.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
