Demi Lovato participates in Gavin Newsom's signing ceremony for laws shielding young social media celebrities
The two new pieces of legislation aim to shield young social media celebrities and guarantee that kids and teens who entertain on digital platforms are safeguarded from financial exploitation.
"Things have changed since Hollywood's early days, but our commitment to safeguard children from exploitation hasn't," Gov. Newsom reportedly stated. "Back in Hollywood, child actors were exploited. Now, in 2024, it's child influencers. These modern-day exploitations cease with the implementation of two new laws meant to shield young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms."
Lovato has been advocating for this legislation, as demonstrated in her Hulu documentary, "Child Star." This project marked her directorial debut and focused on the pitfalls of youth stardom.
Lovato recently discussed her concerns in an interview with CNN. She warned that "it's like the wild, wild west in the digital age," referencing the rapidly evolving media landscape that differs from the time when she was a child star.
Lovato first gained fame in the 1990s and early 2000s, starring in children's TV shows like "Barney and Friends" and breaking out on the Disney Channel. Since then, the entertainment industry has seen significant transformation with the emergence of content created and monetized by digital influencers. Lovato believes that the laws currently in place don't adequately protect minors working on emerging platforms with novel business models.
In her documentary, Lovato spoke with Chris McCarty, a youth activist and head of the advocacy organization "Quick Clicking Kids," who worked alongside her to push for the bills that have now been signed into law by Newsom.
In her conversation with CNN earlier this month, Lovato expressed hope that the bills would pass in California and shared her ambition to bring the issues to Capitol Hill someday.
On Thursday, Lovato thanked Gov. Newsom for his support of the legislation, stating in a statement that the new laws "will empower children featured on social media to claim their rights when they reach adulthood and receive fair compensation for the use of their name and likeness."
One bill signed by Newsom (SB 764) establishes financial and legal safeguards for minors appearing in monetized online content by mandating their parent or guardian to save a portion of their earnings in trust accounts. The other bill (AB 1880) expands California's decades-old "Coogan Law" to include minors employed as content creators on digital platforms.
The actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, praised the new legislation passed on Thursday, benefiting young talent in the industry. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, said, "We are grateful that protections that exist for child performers – protections we helped secure long ago – will now be extended to include content creators and influencers. Regardless of medium or platform, all child performers must be robustly safeguarded."
The implementation of these new laws will ensure that young entertainers on digital platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, are protected from financial exploitation. Lovato's advocacy efforts, as seen in her documentary and interviews, have played a significant role in pushing for legislation to safeguard child influencers in the digital age.
