COLUMBUS, Ohio — A popular TikToker is supporting a new bill introduced to the Ohio House, one that aims to create 'kidfluencer' labor laws to protect children from financial exploitation at the hands of their vlogger families.
Comedian Caroline Easom has captured the attention of the internet with skits about 'kidfluencers' — children who make money by being posted on the internet.
The creator with 3.2 million followers created the "Lil Sandwich" series to dive into what she calls the exploitation of children featured as the main content in family vlogs.
"They are seen as these content machines and they are presented to the audience like products," Easom told News 5. "But my content intends for you to ask: when you see this type of content, why do I have access to this child being disciplined?"
And her content is resonating, with episodes reaching tens of millions of views. She has gained more than 400,000 followers in the past month, according to data analyzer Social Blade.
She has thousands of comments all supporting "Lil Sandwich," her fictional character representative of a child in a vlogging family. The character's lore has expanded with the popularity of the skits. There are now siblings all forced to play a Sandwich role, with viewers learning that Lil Sandwich is actually a teen girl named Sarah Grace.
@caroline_easom Christmas at The Sandwich House is a grueling day of work. #comedy #drama #dystopia #comedian #satire #parody #character #lilsandwich #oliviarodrigo #fyp #pov #skit #sketchcomedy ♬ original sound - Caroline
"My satire is advocacy work," Easom said. "It's also entertainment. It's also plot and storyline and all of that. But I think by adding the plot and the storyline and the characters, I do think I'm getting some people to care about an issue that they wouldn't have cared about otherwise."
Family vlogging has become a lucrative career, bringing in tens of millions of dollars to families. And like any emerging industry, there are no laws addressing the business.
Easom makes videos to help change this, and Ohio lawmakers have been listening to voices like hers.
State Reps. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) and Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) proposed House Bill 376 to make sure children are getting payment for their work.
"Social media is a big business and it shouldn't be treated like any differently than any other Ohio business when it comes to child labor," McNally said during a press conference introducing the bill.
H.B. 376 would require adult vloggers who feature minors in their content to set aside a percentage of the money made per year. It would be in a trust — one that the child can access once they turn 18. The amount set aside would be determined by a “minimum contribution” of one-half of the percentage of the time the likeness, name, or photograph of a vlogging minor was featured in a vlog, multiplied by the gross earning for that vlog in a calendar year.
In simpler terms: Say a child is in every single video (100%) a family channel makes the entire year, and the family's gross earnings were $10 million. The parents would be required by law to put 50% of the profit, or $5 million, into a trust that year.
Former Disney Channel child actor Alyson Stoner joined the lawmakers, adding that kids can't understand fame at such a young age. This led Stoner to struggle managing long-term consequences to their mental, emotional, physical and financial well-being.
"Later as an adult, I discovered $0 in a bank account due to my finances being unknowingly unprotected and mishandled," Stoner said. "The Coogan Account was an important step in ensuring I at least had a portion of my earnings set aside."
Child actors are supposed to be protected by the Coogan Account, which was passed in California in the late 1930s. The law does basically what H.B. 376 is aiming to do — but it exists for actors in Hollywood, not nationwide. Child actors are also in a union, which helps protect them as well.
"Media has expanded significantly since my childhood, and the social media landscape substantially broadens the entry point for young people to be recorded, posted, and monetized," Stoner said.
Having the government interfere in your family finances may not be something vloggers want, Case Western Reserve University business law professor Eric Chaffee said.
"Immediate access in some instances really could improve the child's current life," Chaffee said, giving an argument parents may use.
News 5 reached out to a multitude of family vloggers, but none replied to comment. Chaffee explained what arguments have been used in the past against child labor laws.
"Parents in the United States have various liberty interests to decide how their children are raised, and as a result of that, that they ought to be able to decide whether or not the profits that their child makes go into a trust or are spent immediately."
Many have mixed feelings about family vlogging in general, though. Some users on TikTok argue that there is no harm being done, and it isn't actually a job to be recorded opening presents — or sitting at the doctor's office.
"Take a step back and imagine you're six years old, you're going through a medical crisis — do you want millions of strangers to know about that?" Easom asked. "I think we need to question who is telling stories because I wish parents would recognize that their children's stories are not their stories."
But for Easom, this bill doesn’t go far enough, since she believes it invades a kid's privacy.
"As great as I think it is that there will be a guarantee of compensation, I don't know if it should be legal at all," she said.
Her videos didn't used to be as well-received two years ago, she added, but now — it is hard to find a negative comment in a sea of people expressing their sadness for the characters.
"Do you think that the tides are turning on family bloggers right now?" Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau asked Easom.
"The tides are turning for sure," Easom responded.
The legislation is expected to be heard in the upcoming months.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
