Online child exploitation could be curbed after House passes bill

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Protecting kids from being the subject of exploitation on the internet took a step forward Wednesday in the Minnesota House.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill - by a vote of 103-26 - that initially set out to protect the bank accounts of child influencers.

But it took a hard shift when they stumbled onto something worse. Now it could drastically change how young people appear on social media.

If they’re under 14 years old, it would keep them out of any significant amount of for-profit content, including advertising and so-called "mommy vlogs."

Using kids to sell products on social media has become a billion dollar industry.

A New York Times report showed a lot of that money is generated by parents sharing photos of their daughters.

In several cases, mothers expressed regret at possibly scarring their girls by having them make money by posing in leotards or bikinis.

"I’ve been stupidly, naively feeding a pack of monsters and the regret is huge," said Rep. Zack Stephenson, (DFL-Coon Rapids), quoting a mother interviewed for the Times' story.

Rep. Stephenson wrote a bill to make sure kids in social media content get paid for their work.

But after hearing the stories of exploitation, he changed it to keep kids under 14 from being at all involved in 30% or more of that moneymaking content.

"It’s a brave new world, members, and it’s one that we need to put guardrails on now," Rep. Stephenson said.

His bill got some GOP support Wednesday.

"My first reaction to this was that it doesn’t go far enough in dealing with some of those particular types of instances," said Rep. Harry Niska, (R-Ramsey).

But other Republicans expressed hesitation.

One said she knows three Minnesota moms who make social media full-time with their families and legitimate content.

"Even if it’s them rolling out a rug on a Reel, or showing the books that they’ve read, or they’re on vacation, because their brand has grown so much, I mean some of them are making over $100,000 a month," said Rep. Dawn Gillman, (R-Dassel).

She said the kids benefit by getting to live a better lifestyle.

Rep. Stephenson countered that the kids are doing work and deserve their own share of the income.

Kids between ages 14 and 17 could still create content for cash — on their own or with an adult’s help.

But legislators seem united in working to push back against exploitation.

The bill still needs to pass in the Senate before it reaches the governor’s desk.