“Right to Delete” Legislation for Social Media Child Performers Legislation passes Senate Floor

SACRAMENTO – This week, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 1247, a measure authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) which would require content creators who feature their minor children and receive compensation for that content to delete or edit the material if requested by the child after they turn 18.

With the rise of social media, specifically YouTube, family vloggers have exploded in popularity, many filming their daily lives and raking in thousands of dollars in ad revenue, sponsorships, and advertising. According to Goldman Sachs Research, the influencer economy stood at roughly $250 billion in 2023 and is expected to nearly double to $480 billion by 2028. Many family vloggers include their young children in their content, filming intimate details of their personal lives for their audience of millions to see.

In 2024, popular family vlogger Ruby Franke was sentenced to 30 years in prison for four counts of aggravated child abuse. Ms. Franke, who was known for documenting her strict parenting style on social media, had over 2.5 million followers on her YouTube channel in which she documented the lives of her six children and chronicled her parenting strategies, which included punishing her children by withholding food. Following her arrest and trial, Shari Franke, her daughter, championed “Right to Delete” legislation in Utah, which was signed into law in March of last year.

“The state is one step closer to granting children who have grown up in the public eye the privacy rights they have long deserved,” said Senator Padilla. “Recognizing their privacy rights is returning control of their image back to the child.”

SB 1247 would require content creators who feature their minor children and receive compensation to delete or edit the material if requested by the child after they reach 18. The bill builds off of Senate Bill 764, a measure previously authored by Senator Padilla that became law in 2025.

SB 1247 is supported by prominent children’s online safety advocates and former child performers.

“Today, children—who are often not interested in being a performer of any kind, and who are simply being filmed during everyday life moments, face those same risks at scale, with even fewer protections and even less ability to remove what they never consented to create. The funnel of exposure is only widening, and the need is urgent,” said Alyson Stoner, a former child performer and certified mental health advocate. “Senator Padilla’s bill gives children something my generation never had: the right to their own image, and the legal means to protect it.”

SB 1247 passed the California State Senate by a bipartisan vote of 38-0. The bill now moves to the Assembly.

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Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/