Senate committee advances Coogan‑style protections for child social‑media performers
March 25, 2026 | 2026 Legislature CO, Colorado
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The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced House Bill 10‑58, which extends Coogan‑style financial protections and new privacy and anti‑exploitation tools to children who appear in monetized online content.
Senator Ball, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure requires a percentage of gross earnings for qualifying child participants to be set aside in a trust, creates a mechanism enabling former child participants to request removal of certain content, and creates a civil cause of action for intentional sexualization of minors for financial gain.
Melissa Faust, testifying for YouTube, said the platform supports the bill’s targeted approach and its threshold for compensation, noting the company already provides tools for privacy flags and removals. “We think this is a balanced approach which is centered on the best interest of the kidfluencers themselves,” Faust said, and added that the bill’s compensation calculation includes sponsorships and off‑platform monetization.
The committee adopted amendment L22 to clarify the bill does not apply to news programming and telecommunications providers; legislative legal services explained the bill contains a new statutory definition of “news organization” that limits coverage to entities whose primary purpose is publisher‑selected editorial content rather than user‑generated material. Senators asked jurisdictional questions about whether the law applies to Colorado residents and content created in Colorado; sponsors confirmed the measure is state law intended to apply to creators and children in Colorado.
After adopting the amendment, the committee voted 5–1 to send the bill to the Committee of the Whole.
The bill’s protections — financial deposits, privacy removals, and an anti‑sexualization cause of action — are targeted and include procedural definitions that sponsors said are meant to limit unintended application to news media or underlying telecommunications services.
Senator Ball, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure requires a percentage of gross earnings for qualifying child participants to be set aside in a trust, creates a mechanism enabling former child participants to request removal of certain content, and creates a civil cause of action for intentional sexualization of minors for financial gain.
Melissa Faust, testifying for YouTube, said the platform supports the bill’s targeted approach and its threshold for compensation, noting the company already provides tools for privacy flags and removals. “We think this is a balanced approach which is centered on the best interest of the kidfluencers themselves,” Faust said, and added that the bill’s compensation calculation includes sponsorships and off‑platform monetization.
The committee adopted amendment L22 to clarify the bill does not apply to news programming and telecommunications providers; legislative legal services explained the bill contains a new statutory definition of “news organization” that limits coverage to entities whose primary purpose is publisher‑selected editorial content rather than user‑generated material. Senators asked jurisdictional questions about whether the law applies to Colorado residents and content created in Colorado; sponsors confirmed the measure is state law intended to apply to creators and children in Colorado.
After adopting the amendment, the committee voted 5–1 to send the bill to the Committee of the Whole.
The bill’s protections — financial deposits, privacy removals, and an anti‑sexualization cause of action — are targeted and include procedural definitions that sponsors said are meant to limit unintended application to news media or underlying telecommunications services.
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