The daughter of a YouTube vlogger who was sentenced to prison in February after pleading guilty to aggravated child abuse is speaking out about what she describes as the "dangers" of parents monetizing their children online.
Shari Franke, the daughter of Ruby Franke, addressed lawmakers in Utah Wednesday, describing to them what she witnessed and experienced as a child influencer herself.
"When children become stars in their family’s online content, they become child influencers," Shari Franke said in testimony during a Utah Senate committee hearing. "It is more than just filming your family life and putting it online. It is a full time job, with employees, business credit cards, managers, and marketing strategies."
Shari Franke, the eldest of Ruby Franke's six children, told lawmakers she wanted to "shed light" on the industry in which she grew up, saying, "There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger."
"My mother, Ruby Franke, is the prominent family vlogger arrested last year for child abuse. I don’t come today as the daughter of a felon, nor a victim of an abnormally abusive mother," she said in her opening remarks. "I come today as a victim of family vlogging. My goal today is not to present any idea of a solution to this problem, but to shed light on the ethical and monetary issues that come from being a child influencer."
Ruby Franke rose to fame on YouTube by sharing her family life in Utah, and offering parenting advice, some of it controversial.
She was arrested in August 2023 after her 12-year-old son escaped through the window of her former business partner Jodi Hildebrandt's home and ran to a neighbor's house, pleading for food and water, according to authorities.
Both Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse in December. In February, both women were sentenced to four consecutive sentences of one to 15 years in prison.
In her testimony, which she also shared in full on Instagram, Shari Fanke described a childhood in which her best and worst moments were filmed and shared with the world online.
She described the filming as "24/7" work and said she lost friends because of the exposure.
"At the time, I’d tell you that I had a choice in what was filmed. But I’ve come to learn that every child influencer, in a way, suffers from Stockholm syndrome," Shari Franke said. "Most child influencers would probably tell you they have full control over what is posted; but the reality is that their parents bribe and shame them into posting their most vulnerable moments."
She later added of kids like herself, "We cannot give consent to our parents to post our lives. In any other context, it is understood that children cannot consent, but for some reason, people think family vlogging is different. "
Shari Franke's testimony comes just weeks after California became the second state in the country to put into law financial protections for teens and children who are featured on social media.
California's legislation mandates parents and guardians set aside in trust accounts a percentage of earnings earned by minors who are "featured in monetized online content." The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, also expands the Coogan Law - a longtime protection for child actors -- to include minors employed as content creators on platforms like YouTube.
Last year, Illinois became the first state to enact such protections for kids when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law S.B. 1782, legislation that "creates a private right of action for child influencers against their parents that featured them in videos and did not properly compensate them," according to the governor's website.
California becomes 2nd state to require parents to save earnings for child influencersShari Franke did not mention Illinois or California's laws in her testimony, but said any amount of money she may have made from being a child influencer was not "worth it."
"If I could go back and do it all again, I’d rather have an empty bank account now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet," she said. "No amount of money I received has made what I’ve experienced worth it."
The author, who also announced Wednesday she will release a memoir in January, called on lawmakers to take action to help protect kids.
She did not propose any specific restrictions on family vlogging, but warned lawmakers that what she experienced is "not unique."
"I don’t want people to look at me and blame my unique circumstances, with a mother in prison, to the Franke criminal case," she said. "Family vlogging ruined my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime. I promise you that my experiences are not unique, and are happening to child influencers all over Utah and the country. Let’s tackle this issue before it becomes a bigger crisis than it already is."
