Minnesota Passes Law To Protect Children From Parent Influencers
Did you know that only a handful of states have laws that protect children from their parents when it comes to appearing in social media videos?
Minnesota One Of Few States To Have Protection For Minors
The Minnesota House passed the bill in 2024 that prohibits parents from including children under 14 in their vlogs or videos. It's designed to protect minors from being exploited by their parents, who in some cases don't take into account any concern for their social or mental well-being.
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Think about it. Would you want your parents posting everything you did as a kid while you were growing up? That includes shaming them, embarrassing them, or punishing them.
Parents Are Making Big Bucks As Social Media Influencers
Some family bloggers make tons of money by sharing everything about their personal lives, including their children. Part of the law in Minnesota says that if a child age 14-17 appears in at least 30% of a content creator's material over a 30 day period, they are entitled to 30% of the generated income. That income is to be set in a trust account and needs to be accessible when they reach adulthood.
Horror Stories Like Ruby Franke Shed Light On Child Abuse
We were watching a documentary called "Devil In The Family: The Fall Of Ruby Franke" and it was shocking to see how a mother could do this to her family. She had a very popular parenting channel online where she filmed her family and everything that was going on. I felt so sorry for the kids, even before I found out that she was physically abusing and neglecting them. One of the kids finally escaped and got help from the neighbors. Laws like this passed here in Minnesota are aimed at protecting children from being in this situation.
What do you think? Is it an overreach of the government, or should their be laws in place (maybe at a federal level) to protect children?
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