Ruby Franke’s daughter speaks out to lawmakers about the dangers of family vlogs

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, Ruby Franke’s daughter, addressed Utah lawmakers on Wednesday, describing to them what she had seen and experienced as a child influencer.

“When kids become stars in their families’ online content, they become child influencers,” Shari Franke said during a Utah Senate committee hearing. “It’s more than just filming your family life and putting it online. It’s 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 she grew up in, saying, “There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger.”

“My mother, Ruby Franke, is the prominent family vlogger who was arrested last year for child abuse. I come today neither as the daughter of a criminal nor as the victim of an abnormally abusive mother,” she said in her opening statement. “I come today as a victim of family vlogs. My goal today is not to present any idea for a solution to this problem, but to shed light on the ethical and monetary issues that arise from being a child influencer.”

Ruby Franke rose to fame on YouTube by sharing her family life in Utah and giving parenting advice, some of which was 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, according to authorities, begging for food and water.

Both Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty in December to four counts of child abuse. In February, both women were sentenced to four consecutive sentences of one to fifteen 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 filming as “24/7” work and said she lost friends because of the fame.

“At the time, I told you I had a choice in what was filmed. But I’ve come to realize that every child influencer suffers from Stockholm Syndrome to some extent,” said Shari Franke. “Most child influencers would probably tell you that they have complete 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 about children like herself: “We can’t give our parents permission to post our lives. In any other context it is understood that children cannot give 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 implement financial protections for teens and children seen on social media.

California law requires parents and guardians to set aside a percentage of earnings from minors “appearing in online monetized content” in trust accounts. The legislation, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, also extends the Coogan Act — a longstanding protection for child actors — to minors working as content creators on platforms like YouTube.

Last year, Illinois became the first state to enact such protections for children when Governor JB Pritzker signed into law SB 1782, legislation that “creates a private right for child influencers against their parents who have videotaped them and who have not properly compensate them,” according to the governor’s website.

Shari Franke did not mention Illinois or California laws in her testimony, but said any amount of money she made as a child influencer was not “worth it.”

“If I could go back and do it all over again, I’d rather have an empty bank account right now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet,” she said. “No amount of money I have received has made what I went through worth it.”

The author, who also announced Wednesday that she will release a memoir in January, called on lawmakers to take action to help protect children.

She didn’t propose any specific restrictions on family vlogs, 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, for the Franke criminal case,” she said. “Family blogs ruined my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime. I promise my experiences are not unique and they are happening to child influencers across Utah and the country. Let’s address this problem before it becomes a bigger crisis than it already is .”