New Minnesota law regulates minors’ roles in social media content

Heidi Keller doesn’t think she’ll ever be rich — and she doesn’t want to be.

“I’m a single mom. It’s never going to happen. But we are so blessed in our experiences, and that is true wealth,” Keller often tells her two daughters.

Since 2020, she’s taken them on the road to countless public lands including two dozen American and Canadian national parks where they’ve explored some of the continent’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. All were made possible by Keller’s work travel writing and running an Instagram page with 21,000 followers.

Her account documents their adventures. While most of Keller’s posts don’t earn her money, she does get compensated for brand partnerships and sponsored posts. Now, when Keller and other parents earn money from social media, they have to follow a new Minnesota law if their children are involved.

The law, which took effect July 1, entitles minors ages 14-18 to compensation when they are consistently featured in paid content, while those under 14 are barred from appearing in the content entirely.

The compensation is only required when, during a 30-day period, a minor is featured in 30% or more of social media posts that earn at least 1 cent per view. If that criteria is met, the creator must put a certain percentage of the profit into a trust that the minor can access at 18.

“It’s kind of structured more along the lines of how we’ve structured child labor laws,” said Matthew Bodie, a University of Minnesota Law School professor who teaches labor and employment law.

State Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said the bill she sponsored in 2023 updates the state’s existing laws for the modern age. While child labor laws generally exist to protect minors’ physical safety and ability to get an education, she said content creation comes with its own hazards from the digital age.

Content featuring children can attract pedophiles, and Maye Quade said she has seen parents post incredibly intimate and emotional moments of their children’s lives. She gave the example of a viral post that showed a child being informed of her dad’s death.

“I wanted to make sure that kids aren’t working in the space, and that there’s not a monetary incentive for the kinds of things that we’re seeing emerge in monetized content creation of children,” Maye Quade said.

While similar laws have popped up across the country, Minnesota is the first to set an age minimum for participation in monetized content. Children are not allowed to work until their 14th birthday. The law also prevents minors under 14 from producing their own monetized content.

It also gives individuals who were featured in monetized content as minors the right to have it removed once they turn 13. Maye Quade said that it’s a way to allow children whose lives have been broadcast to the world the ability to regain some of their digital privacy.

“Who knows how that will impact them when they’re older, when they’re trying to find jobs, when they’re going to college, when they have their own kids — to have your first diaper blowout be public on Facebook,” she said.

Maye Quade said making social posts that earn revenue can resemble a production. She referenced a case where an influencer’s video showed a filming schedule for her family’s trip to Disneyland that included outfit changes, the number of shots and specific locations needed.

“This is a location shoot, it’s not a trip to Disney World where they’re just like casually filming the kids enjoying themselves,” Maye Quade said. “That’s work, and that is where this comes in.”

Keller’s daughters are 9 and 11. To protect their privacy and safety, she does not mention their names or the location of the Twin Cities suburb they live in. She also waits to post content from specific locations until after they have left.

While she doesn’t believe the law will directly affect her, she supports what it is trying to do. For years, she has been putting aside some of her profits into a savings account for her daughters.

“It’s kind of like modeling. If your kid was in an ad for a hiking backpack, they would get paid for that,” Keller said. “Why shouldn’t they get more of a secure future financially from that? You know what I mean? It’s just the right thing.”