Topics: Social Media, US News, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
With the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of us were forced to stay indoors to protect own our and other people's health.
And while it was a pretty tough time for most of us, there were many things we would do to keep us entertained.
While the world was going through a crisis, the rise of TikTok and other video platforms was one for all of us to see.
Nowadays, people can make a lot of money from being a so-called 'influencer', even children that are under the age of 16.
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If you have a scroll on the popular video platform, it certainly wont take you long to find a child influencer who is making a decent living posting popular dances and other things of interest to youngsters.
Well, while it may seem all well and good for children to make a good amount of money at a young age, many have pointed out the lack of protection when it comes to child influencers.
Now, the state of Illinois has made history by being the first in the nation to pass legislation at protecting child influencers.
The bill was first passed in March through the Illinois Senate unanimously, and was officially signed into law on 11 August.
As per AP, the law will 'entitle influencers under the age of 16 to a percentage of earnings based on how often they appear on video blogs or online content that generates at least 10 cents per view.'
As the law has only been passed in Illinois, the video content would have to be created in the state, with kids having to be featured in at least 30 percent of content in a 30-day period.
The money must be locked into a trust fund which the child can access when they turn 18.
Speaking to Teen Vogue, Alex Gough, a spokesperson for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, said: "The internet provides more opportunities for children to display their creativity than ever before.
"In the event that minors are able to profit from that creativity, they deserve to be shielded from parents who would attempt to take advantage of their child’s talents and use them for their own financial gain."
The new law was actually set in motion by teen, Shreya Nallamothu, who started thinking about the lack of protection for child influencers.
The 16-year-old did an independent study on it in school, with her advisor encouraging her to reach out to legislations about it.
She did, and the rest is history.
