The state of Illinois has officially passed the first law aimed at protecting child influencers and children appearing in for-profit online content. The Illinois Senate unanimously passed the law back in March, and it went into effect on August 11. The law stipulates that “influencers under the age of 16 will receive a percentage of their earnings based on the frequency with which they appear on video blogs or online content,” reports the Associated Press. The money must be held in a trust fund that the child can access when they turn 18.

There are currently no laws protecting child influencers or children whose parents put them online for financial gain. “The Internet offers children more opportunities to showcase their creativity than ever before,” Alex Gough, a spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, said in a statement to “teen vogue“: “In the event that minors are able to benefit from this creativity, they deserve protection from parents who would seek to exploit their child’s talents and use them for their own financial gain.”

New US law: “Protection against parents who would try to exploit their child’s talents”

There are currently no laws protecting child influencers or children whose parents put them online for financial gain. “The Internet gives kids more opportunities to showcase their creativity than ever before,” Alex Gough, a spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, said in a statement to Teen Vogue. “In the event that minors are able to benefit from this creativity, they deserve protection from parents who would seek to exploit their child’s talents and use them for their own financial gain.”

Student Shreya Nallamothu came up with the idea for the law during a school project

The law not only aims to protect children and young people, but was actually started by a young person. 16-year-old Shreya Nallamothu began reflecting on the lack of legal protections for child influencers when she got an independent study project at school. Her advisor suggested that she approach lawmakers, and she did just that.

Senator Dabid Koehler: “I wasn’t really aware of this topic”

“I knew I just had to try,” said Nallamothu. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, but let’s see where this ends.” She reached out to Senator David Koehler and told him about her idea, and Koehler told Teen Vogue that the topic sparked excitement among his team. “The younger the team member, the more important that was to them,” he said. “I wasn’t really aware of this issue until it was presented to me.” But once he found out about it, Koehler campaigned hard, working with legal and policy experts to draft the legislation.

Nallamothu: “Child influencing is ultimately work”

The law focuses on the financial aspects of child influencers, or children of influencers, and guarantees a portion of the earnings, which are held in a trust fund. “Child influencing is work, after all,” Nallamothu emphasized. “It’s work, and they deserve compensation for their work.” Although previous versions of the Illinois legislation provided for the ability to request the removal of content posted by them when they were minors, this was removed because “there really isn’t any opportunity to enforce it.”

Cam’s mother posted intimate details on Facebook

Activists have campaigned for expanding laws protecting child entertainers to include child influencers. The call for legislation has not only related to financial aspects, but also to data protection. Cam, 24, grew up with a social media presence that she didn’t approve of.

She explained that details of her life, including her first menstrual period and photos of her in the hospital after a car accident, were posted by her mother to her 10,000 Facebook followers. In a previous interview with Teen Vogue, Cam said, “It’s easier to say what my mom didn’t post.” Cam appeared in support of Washington’s HB 1627, which would allow children of influencers to request that content be removed, which they delete “from any Internet platform or network that has offered compensation to the individual’s parents for that content.”

In Cam’s testimony, they said: “When I was nine, intimate details of my first period were shared online… I ask you to be the voice for this generation of children because I know firsthand what it’s like having no choice when a digital footprint you didn’t create will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

Washington law shows no progress

The Washington law is stuck in committee and has made no progress since February. Although Illinois law doesn’t cover privacy concerns or the “right to erasure,” Cam is hoping for a “ripple effect” in protecting child influencers. “I’ve heard (news outlets) talk about it and say Illinois has the potential to become a ‘model state’ because no other state has that law,” Cam said. “It gives me hope that it might even become federal law one day.”