Your Guide to Kidfluencer Laws and Filing a Lawsuit

As kids become social media stars, new laws are giving them the power to take legal action if their image or earnings are misused.

Kidfluencer.

Now, there’s a word you wouldn’t have dreamed about a couple of years ago—but welcome to the internet. You’ve probably heard of influencers. Influencers have social media accounts that share their lives (real or imagined) or share within a specific subject area (like wellness or health influencers, teacher influencers, and so on), and they make money by persuading viewers to purchase a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media. 

You might not even realize you’re being influenced. It might be a mom frolicking in her picture-perfect backyard with her picture-perfect kids, but she’s hashtagging or tagging their favorite snacks, the clothes they wear, and the toys they play with. Then, when you’re in the store and see the box of those same snacks, you know you’ve seen them before… and if that picture-perfect mom gives them to her kids, then they must be good for your kids, too. Right? Well, maybe or maybe not, but that’s how influencer culture works.

A kidfluencer is a child—usually under the age of 18, and often under 13—who gains popularity on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok and influences buying behavior, builds a fanbase, or generates income just like their adult counterparts. Usually, a kidfluencer is featured or managed by their parents.

How do influencers make money?

Any influencer (also called a “content creator”), child or adult, makes money through:

• Sponsored posts
• Brand partnerships
• Product placements
• Ad revenue
• Merchandise or affiliate sales

Many brands collaborate with influencers to market directly to children and parents. Some top influencers earn millions per year, and parents acting as the child’s manager, videographer, and promoter run channels or accounts.

Lots of “mommy vloggers”, or moms who create whole personas based on their lives as mothers of young children or teens, make it seem as though it’s a fun side gig and a hobby to share their lives with an audience. But that’s far from the truth. In actuality, it’s a highly curated, methodical practice that can earn $10,000 for each sponsored post. And the more eyes see each post, the more brand sponsors they can obtain.

Types of kidfluencers

• Toy reviewers
• Stars of family vlogs (or children of content creators) 
• Fashion/lifestyle personalities 
• Gaming content creators 
• Comedy or trend-based short-form video stars

If you try to search numbers of kidfluencers in the U.S. today, you’ll likely not get a specific answer—there’s no precise count. 

You might recognize some internet-famous names that include: 

Ryan Kaji of Ryan’s World, estimated to have made more than $25 million per year at his peak;

Everleigh Rose Soutas, who is featured on her mother’s channel, The LaBrant Fam, and has more than 5 million followers; 

Mila and Emma Stauffer, 9-year-old twins with more than three million followers; 

Taytum and Oakley Fisher, of The Fishfam, who are twin fashion and lifestyle influencers with more than 3 million followers; and

EthanGamer, who began producing gaming content focused on Roblox and Minecraft at age 7; and

Piper Rockelle, subject of the Netflix documentary Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, has a combined following of about 12 million YouTube subscribers, 16.4 million TikTok followers, and 6.4 million Instagram followers.

New kidfluencer laws to protect children on social media

If a toddler can earn six figures on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram… where are the parents? Most likely, the parents are behind the scenes, carefully curating outfits, selecting toys, and coaching the cutest and seemingly spontaneous sayings and reactions. 

Until recently, there were few, if any, laws safeguarding their earnings, privacy, or labor rights.

Now, states and countries are starting to recognize the need for kidfluencer laws—new legal protections designed to address the growing influence (and vulnerability) of children in the digital spotlight.

A kidfluencer is essentially an unpaid performer who has no legal claim to the money they help earn. Traditional child labor laws and entertainment regulations (like the Coogan Law in California) were designed for film, TV, and theater, but don’t cover social media.

There is no federal law in the U.S. that requires a parent to set aside earnings for children featured online. Kids usually have no say in being filmed, no protection for long hours, and no recourse if their image is misused or monetized indefinitely. Once the content is posted, it can be shared, copied and exploited without the child's control.

Purpose of kidfluencer laws

The new and pending legislation typically focuses on:

1. Earnings, to ensure that a child receives their fair share of money they help generate; 
2. Labor protections that limit work hours and regulate film conditions; 
3. Privacy, to prevent overexposure and long-term harm from permanent online content; and 
4. Consent, which recognizes that young children can’t meaningfully agree to monetized content.

Even with laws in place, this isn’t an easy thing to navigate. When does content become “monetized”? When does it count as “work”? Who monitors family-run accounts? What are the parental rights, as weighed against child protections? Who addresses the role of the platform… is YouTube or TikTok responsible for enforcement? 

There are a variety of questions, but the new and upcoming laws are a step toward recognizing digital labor and future legal rights of child creators and children of creators.

How do child digital protection laws work?

Usually, the creator who features a minor in their content must set aside a proportional percentage of their gross earnings in a trust that the child can access when they reach adulthood. For instance, if a “momfluencer” includes her toddler in her content 80% of the time and makes $1 million a year, she must set aside $800,000 of the earnings in trust for the child. 

California’s Coogan Law applies to child actors, but it’s not relevant to influencers. This law is related to professional actors under contract. The new influencer law is for children who are social media personalities who work with their parents, not under a contract. 

Under Minnesota law, a child who is age 13 or older, but was under 18 when their image or likeness appeared online, may request to have it deleted.

Have kids sued their parents over social media claims?

Piper Rockelle is a teen influencer who was the ringleader of a group of children called, “The Squad.” Piper filed a $22 million lawsuit against her mother, Tiffany Smith, that alleged emotional, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, along with claims of non-payment and sabotaging YouTube channels. The case was settled for $1.85 million without admission of liability. 

While courts are cautious about intervening in family matters, civil lawsuits between children and parents are legally allowed in the U.S. when there are genuine disputes over money, content creation, trust assets, or emotional harm. As influencer culture and digital parenting evolve, more kidfluencer-related lawsuits are likely to emerge in the coming years.

Direct lawsuits by children against their parents over content creation are still emerging, and the legal landscape is evolving to provide more protections for child influencers. Legislation in states like Illinois and California empowers children to claim their rightful earnings and seek legal recourse if exploited. These developments underscore the growing recognition of children’s rights in the digital age.

Are you a child who wishes to pursue legal action against your parents?

Here’s a step-by-step guide for a child or young adult who is considering legal action against their parents.

1. Understand the legal grounds. You must have a valid legal claim. This could include:

• exploitation or misuse of earnings (for example, monetized content without compensation)
• invasion of privacy, or posting content without consent
• breach of fiduciary duty, such as mismanaging trust funds or inheritance
• emotional distress, if the actions caused significant harm
• failure to follow child labor or influencer protection laws

2. Consult a civil lawyer, ideally with experience in family or entertainment law

The child—or their guardian if they have one—should consult an attorney to find out whether their claim has merit. Your attorney will explain whether you have standing to sue, if the statute of limitations applies, and what state laws could offer protection (depending on if your state has kidfluencer laws). There are some organizations and legal clinics that offer free or reduced-cost legal consultations for minors.

3. Involve a guardian ad litem or advocate

A minor may not sue on their own behalf without help. The court can appoint a guardian ad litem, which is a neutral advocate, or an adult guardian to represent the child’s best interests during the lawsuit. If the individual is 18 or older, they may bring the lawsuit independently.

4. Gather evidence. The child or their legal representative should obtain the following:

• content creation records (photos, videos, timestamps)
• revenue reports from relevant platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok
• contracts or brand deals signed by the parent
• screenshots or videos that show potential emotional harm or exploitation
• testimony from friends, teachers or professionals if there is alleged abuse
  

5. Attempt settlement or mediation

The court might recommend or require the minor to attempt to mediate or negotiate a settlement. They do this because of the potential emotional upheaval and long-term family consequences of a child suing their parent.

6. Know the time limits for a lawsuit

Usually, a lawsuit that involves child labor or a breach of fiduciary duty will be allowed to be filed after the child turns 18. However, there’s usually a statute of limitations that only permits the child to file the lawsuit from two to four years from the age of majority or from when the child discovered the harm. This varies by state, so it’s important to ask your lawyer.

All of this sounds very… legal. And it is. But it’s also important to seek the therapy and emotional support you might need during what could be a very difficult and traumatizing process. Even when a child feels exploited or harmed by their parents, they often still love them and rely on them. Filing a lawsuit can permanently affect family relationships, inheritance, and emotional well-being—it’s not something to take lightly or without significant thought and counseling.