Demi Lovato Champions Law to Protect Child Influencers From Financial Abuse
Demi Lovato met with California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week as he signed two new bills into law designed to give increased financial protection to child influencers.
The first bill, SB 764, requires parents to set aside a portion of earnings their child content creators make to be held in trusts. The second, AB 1880, expands a decades-old legislation called the Coogan Law, which requires employers of child entertainers to place 15 percent of their earnings in trust accounts. The expansion now includes children who work as content creators online.
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“In order to build a better future for the next generation of child stars, we need to put protections in place for minors working in the digital space,” Lovato, herself a former child star on Disney, said in a statement.
“I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for taking action with this update to the Coogan Law that will ensure children featured on social media are granted agency when they come of age and are properly compensated for the use of their name and likeness.”
The bill signing comes just after Lovato released her Hulu documentary Child Star, which chronicles bullying, drug abuse, eating disorders, and other challenges former child actors have faced. The doc also features fellow former child stars Drew Barrymore and Raven-Symoné. Lovato released a new song “You’ll Be Ok, Kid” for the doc.
“A lot has changed since Hollywood’s early days, but here in California, our laser focus on protecting kids from exploitation remains the same,” Newsom said in a statement. “In old Hollywood, child actors were exploited. In 2024, it’s now child influencers. Today, that modern exploitation ends through two new laws to protect young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms.”
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