Washington state makes first move by state legislature to regulate family vlog industry Introduce new child rights law(opens in new tab) Provide legal protection for children who appear in online content.
proposed through the law — if it passes House Bill 1627(opens in new tab)Titled “Protecting the Interests of Minors Appearing in Commercial Family Vlogs” . Parents should put a portion of content revenue into separate funds that children will have access to when they become adults . The law also provides for privacy rights for these children once they reach legal adulthood, allowing them to petition for the removal of videos and other content.
The law applies to creators who generate at least 10 cents per video played and feature children in at least 30% of their paid content. NBC(opens in new tab) report.
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One of the ideas behind the bill is that Chris McCarty(opens in new tab)An 18-year-old political science freshman at the University of Washington who became interested in child protection after hearing about an influencer Micah Stauffer(opens in new tab)Stauffer was embroiled in an online controversy after she and her husband returned their recently adopted child to the state, but was profiting from numerous vlogs she posted on YouTube. Shortly after, McCarty launched her advocacy campaign. stop clicking kids(opens in new tab) Oppose the monetization of children on social media.
From activists and academics to former vlogging child stars, some have joined the voices against this exploitation of children’s privacy online.and appear Many parents pay attention(opens in new tab) — Several prominent TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram “mom influencers” have deleted videos of their children, blurred their faces, and refused to post identifying information or talk about their children. , has built a large fan base that is obsessed with young children. .
Washington’s HB 1627, proposed by Washington State Rep. Christine Reeves, is the second iteration of a bill introduced by Rep. Emily Wicks and builds on the historic precedent established by the state legislature. Coogan Law(opens in new tab) This outlines the protection of professional child actors. At hearings on the bill in hand, his current TikTok creator, Cam Barrett (@SoftScorpio(opens in new tab)). Barrett first shared his experience with his family’s vlog on TikTok(opens in new tab) Since then, they’ve found new life in video-based apps and joined a community of advocates who condemn the continued form of content creation.this week they Testified about the exploitation of personal information by parents(opens in new tab) To the Washington House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee.
“The problem we’re trying to solve here is centering children’s rights on how they establish their online presence,” Reeves explained at a hearing this week.
But there are concerns from supporters that this is still just a state-level solution to a global problem, and that family vloggers only feel encouraged to leave Washington state. , telling lawmakers he hopes the bill will act as a framework for other states, and McCarty envisions Washington as a “leader in technology policy” if the bill is passed. said.
The bill still has a long way to go, but as it goes to House deliberations this week following its first House committee hearings, advocates will see the covert family blogging industry finally ethical. It is a hopeful sign that you may be subject to strict surveillance.
