Children under 16 who earn money on social media via an adult are now subject to a new Illinois law designed to protect them. As of July 1, any adult who is financially compensated for sharing information about children under 16 online will be required to put a certain percentage of the profits into a blocked trust for the child. Minors are also allowed to sue their parents or other adults who profited from content that included the child yet failed to safeguard the money.
The question now is how a parent making money from their child’s frequent appearance on social media might affect their allocation of parental responsibility or child support. Perhaps a parent in the middle of a custody dispute believes the other parent’s social media exposure of the child is not healthy or safe for the child. If the child is young, the other parent might even believe the exposure is exploitative. While this is a relatively new area, those in this situation should speak to a knowledgeable Naperville, IL child custody attorney from Calabrese Associates, P.C..