'A victim of family vlogging': Watch as Ruby Franke's daughter testifies on trend's dangers

Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of formerly popular family vlogger Ruby Franke , testified in favor of laws protecting child influencers on Wednesday, telling Utah lawmakers that "there is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger."

Shari Franke, along with her five siblings, was part of her mom's videos posted to what would become millions of viewers on the YouTube channel "8 Passengers," which was still active up to the time of Ruby Franke's arrest for child abuse in Aug. 2023.

Speaking at a Utah Senate committee hearing , Shari Franke told lawmakers, "There is never ever a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame." Her own experiences as the child of a family vlogger are a prime example of the harm that is often done to children who are thrust into the influencing space, she said.

Her testimony comes as proposals for child-influencer laws continue to move through a handful of states across the country. Three states, Illinois , Minnesota and California , have officially passed such laws, setting into motion financial and privacy protections for children featured in monetized online content.

Watch Shari Franke's testimony here

"There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger," said Shari Franke

"My mother, Ruby Franke, is the prominent family vlogger that was arrested last year for child abuse," Shari Franke told legislators. "I don’t come today as the daughter of a felon, nor as a victim of an abnormally abusive mother. I come today as a victim of family vlogging."

"When children become stars in their family’s online content, they become child influencers," she continued. "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."

She described receiving rewards like vacations and shopping trips for filming "particularly embarrassing" content as a child, noting that there are no state laws in place to protect the money made by the parents off the backs of their children's labor. She also compared the experience as the child of a family vlogging channel to having Stockholm syndrome, saying child influencers may think they have control over what is posted when in reality, their parents use shame or bribes to convince them to comply.

"The difference between family vlogging and a normal business, however, is that all the children are employees," she said. "Children from before they are born until the day they turn 18 have become stars of family businesses on Youtube, Instagram and other social media platforms."

Franke said that Utah is a hotspot for family and mommy vloggers, as the LDS culture around family, the goal to share the church and the prevalence of large families make family-focused content all the more lucrative. Because of this, she urged the sitting lawmakers to "tackle this issue before it becomes a bigger crisis than it already is."

Who is Ruby Franke?

Ruby Franke is a Utah mother of six and a formerly popular family vlog YouTuber. One of the stars of the "8 Passengers" YouTube channel that once raked in millions of views and followers, she became the subject of widespread criticism online for her parenting choices.

The Utah mom was arrested in August 2023 on multiple charges of child abuse after one of her kids escaped her oversight and ran to a neighbor asking for food and help. Franke later pleaded guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse and was sentenced to one to fifteen years in prison per count.

Jodi Hildenbrandt , her business partner and co-founder of parenting advice YouTube channel and service "ConneXions," received the same charges and sentence.

At the time of Franke's arrest, Shari shared a post on her Instagram story celebrating the arrest, saying: "Today has been a big day. Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'A victim of family vlogging': Watch as Ruby Franke's daughter testifies on trend's dangers