Committee reviews bill to require vlogger registration and trust accounts for monetized child appearances

The Consumer Protection and Business Committee held a public hearing Jan. 20 on HB 2,400, a bill that would create business‑registration requirements for "vloggers," require trust accounts for monetized content featuring minors and permit deletion or removal requests from people now aged 18–23 for content of their childhood likenesses.

Staff explained the key elements: a vlogger with a substantial nexus to Washington who received $12,000 or more in compensated social‑media video revenue during the prior 12 months would be deemed engaged in business activity and required to register with the Department of Revenue; a nonresident without physical presence would meet a $100,000 revenue threshold. The bill would require social‑media services or third‑party advertisers with a Washington nexus to establish trust accounts for the benefit of a minor whose likeness is monetized and to withhold a pro rata share of compensation equal to the percentage of time the minor appears or is referenced.

Representative Christine Reeves, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the intent is to protect children who are monetized on social platforms without preventing ordinary family posts. "There's a difference when you stop posting your children on the Internet just so grandma and grandpa can see them and you start posting your children on the Internet to make money from advertisers," Reeves said, arguing the bill aims to bring workplace‑style protections into the social‑media context.

TechNet and the Association of Washington Business testified in opposition or with concerns. TechNet's Rose Feliciano said placing the trust‑account obligation on social‑media services is "unprecedented" and urged additional study of the approach used in Illinois and Minnesota. Max Martin of the Association of Washington Business said some enforcement mechanisms — particularly private rights of action — raised concerns and recommended centralized enforcement by the attorney general if the policy moves forward.

Committee members raised technical questions about how the state would measure compensation thresholds and determine whether an out‑of‑state creator reaches Washington viewers; staff said the threshold uses established "substantial nexus" concepts from business and occupation tax law and offered to follow up with more details.

Witnesses said they were willing to continue negotiating implementation details in the interim. The committee closed the public hearing without taking action at that session.