California legislation that would allow adults to demand the removal of compensated social media content featuring them as minors cleared two Senate committees in late April with unanimous votes, advancing to the Senate Appropriations Committee with bipartisan backing.
Senate Bill 1247, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), passed the Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection Committee 9-0 and the Senate Judiciary Committee 13-0 on April 21.
The bill would require family vloggers who receive compensation for content featuring a minor child to delete or edit that content upon request once the child turns 18.
What the Bill Does
Under SB 1247, social media platforms must provide a mechanism through which eligible adults can submit removal requests. Platforms must notify the content creator within three business days of receiving a request. Creators then have 10 business days to delete or edit the content so the child influencer no longer appears. Failure to comply exposes creators to civil liability, including statutory damages of $3,000 per day of noncompliance, actual damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
An April 23 amendment narrowed the bill’s scope, limiting eligibility to individuals who appeared in at least 30% of a vlogger’s paid content as a minor. The amendment also clarifies that child influencers may submit requests directly to the vlogger, not only through the platform’s notification process. The Judiciary Committee analysis noted the threshold was added to prevent removal requests based on incidental appearances.
Industry Voices at the Hearing
The April 21 Judiciary hearing drew testimony from two SAG-AFTRA members with personal experience in child entertainment.
Jillian Clare, a former child entertainer and SAG-AFTRA LA Local Board member, described receiving inappropriate mail as a child and having her appearance discussed online without her consent as a teenager.
“While SAG-AFTRA has long fought for protections for young performers, millions of children online have none, which is why SB 1247 is so critical: it gives former child influencers the right, once they turn 18, to reclaim control over their digital footprint and request the removal of content created about them as minors, ensuring their childhood does not become a permanent, unchangeable record they never agreed to,” Clare said.
Jennifer Stone, a SAG-AFTRA member and former child entertainer, cited the financial pressures that drive parental decisions around child content.
“Many parents encouraged their kids to dress more provocatively or do things for attention on the internet to get likes and also earn money to support the entire family, before the child could fully grasp what they were doing,” Stone said. “Today, social media has made the pursuit of fame and the risk of exploitation more accessible than ever because you can pursue it from your very own living room, anywhere in the world.”
Former child actor Alyson Stoner, now a certified mental health practitioner, has also voiced support for the measure. “Senator Padilla’s bill gives children something my generation never had: the right to their own image, and the legal means to protect it,” Stoner said.
The SAG-AFTRA Child Protection Task Force and advocacy group Quit Clicking Kids are formal supporters of the bill.
Opposition
The Civil Justice Association of California is the sole named opponent on record. The organization raised concerns about the bill’s private right of action and its $3,000-per-day statutory damages structure, arguing that significant penalties paired with readily filed civil claims could invite abusive litigation and further burden courts without commensurate public benefit. CJAC said it respects the bill’s intent but remains concerned with the penalty design.
No opposition from social media platforms has appeared in the legislative record to date.
Legislative Background
SB 1247 builds on Senate Bill 764, a 2024 Padilla measure that requires family vloggers to deposit 65% of a minor’s proportionate share of gross earnings into a trust accessible upon adulthood when the minor appears in at least 30 percent of monetized content. That law drew comparisons to California’s Coogan Act, which established financial protections for child actors working under contract.
The Judiciary Committee analysis noted that SB 1247 is modeled on similar statutes in Minnesota and Utah, neither of which has faced a court challenge.
Utah’s right-to-delete law, enacted in March 2025, was championed by Shari Franke following the 2023 guilty plea of her mother, Ruby Franke, a family YouTuber with 2.5 million YouTube subscribers who was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated child abuse. Arizona’s legislature is separately considering a comparable measure.
“A generation of children whose lives have been posted for public consumption has no way to control their image,” Padilla said. “We need to bolster our landmark privacy protections and give modern performers control of what was shared of them as a child.”
SB 1247 now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
California legislation that would allow adults to demand the removal of compensated social media content featuring them as minors cleared two Senate committees in late April with unanimous votes, advancing to the Senate Appropriations Committee with bipartisan backing.
Senate Bill 1247, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), passed the Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection Committee 9-0 and the Senate Judiciary Committee 13-0 on April 21.
The bill would require family vloggers who receive compensation for content featuring a minor child to delete or edit that content upon request once the child turns 18.
What the Bill Does
Under SB 1247, social media platforms must provide a mechanism through which eligible adults can submit removal requests. Platforms must notify the content creator within three business days of receiving a request. Creators then have 10 business days to delete or edit the content so the child influencer no longer appears. Failure to comply exposes creators to civil liability, including statutory damages of $3,000 per day of noncompliance, actual damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
An April 23 amendment narrowed the bill’s scope, limiting eligibility to individuals who appeared in at least 30% of a vlogger’s paid content as a minor. The amendment also clarifies that child influencers may submit requests directly to the vlogger, not only through the platform’s notification process. The Judiciary Committee analysis noted the threshold was added to prevent removal requests based on incidental appearances.
Industry Voices at the Hearing
The April 21 Judiciary hearing drew testimony from two SAG-AFTRA members with personal experience in child entertainment.
Jillian Clare, a former child entertainer and SAG-AFTRA LA Local Board member, described receiving inappropriate mail as a child and having her appearance discussed online without her consent as a teenager.
“While SAG-AFTRA has long fought for protections for young performers, millions of children online have none, which is why SB 1247 is so critical: it gives former child influencers the right, once they turn 18, to reclaim control over their digital footprint and request the removal of content created about them as minors, ensuring their childhood does not become a permanent, unchangeable record they never agreed to,” Clare said.
Jennifer Stone, a SAG-AFTRA member and former child entertainer, cited the financial pressures that drive parental decisions around child content.
“Many parents encouraged their kids to dress more provocatively or do things for attention on the internet to get likes and also earn money to support the entire family, before the child could fully grasp what they were doing,” Stone said. “Today, social media has made the pursuit of fame and the risk of exploitation more accessible than ever because you can pursue it from your very own living room, anywhere in the world.”
Former child actor Alyson Stoner, now a certified mental health practitioner, has also voiced support for the measure. “Senator Padilla’s bill gives children something my generation never had: the right to their own image, and the legal means to protect it,” Stoner said.
The SAG-AFTRA Child Protection Task Force and advocacy group Quit Clicking Kids are formal supporters of the bill.
Opposition
The Civil Justice Association of California is the sole named opponent on record. The organization raised concerns about the bill’s private right of action and its $3,000-per-day statutory damages structure, arguing that significant penalties paired with readily filed civil claims could invite abusive litigation and further burden courts without commensurate public benefit. CJAC said it respects the bill’s intent but remains concerned with the penalty design.
No opposition from social media platforms has appeared in the legislative record to date.
Legislative Background
SB 1247 builds on Senate Bill 764, a 2024 Padilla measure that requires family vloggers to deposit 65% of a minor’s proportionate share of gross earnings into a trust accessible upon adulthood when the minor appears in at least 30 percent of monetized content. That law drew comparisons to California’s Coogan Act, which established financial protections for child actors working under contract.
The Judiciary Committee analysis noted that SB 1247 is modeled on similar statutes in Minnesota and Utah, neither of which has faced a court challenge.
Utah’s right-to-delete law, enacted in March 2025, was championed by Shari Franke following the 2023 guilty plea of her mother, Ruby Franke, a family YouTuber with 2.5 million YouTube subscribers who was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated child abuse. Arizona’s legislature is separately considering a comparable measure.
“A generation of children whose lives have been posted for public consumption has no way to control their image,” Padilla said. “We need to bolster our landmark privacy protections and give modern performers control of what was shared of them as a child.”
SB 1247 now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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