Former child YouTube star Shari Franke slams family vlogging: 'What price is worth giving up your childhood?'

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Parenting vlogger Ruby Franke charged with six counts of felony child abuse

Fox News' William La Jeunesse provides details on the six charges of child abuse against Ruby Franke and the plea deal she agreed to, which could spare her from decades in prison.  

A former child YouTube star is speaking out on the dangers of family vlogging, saying there is "never a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame." 

Shari Franke, whose life was broadcasted online through the family’s 8 Passengers YouTube channel spoke to the Utah House of Representatives about the "ethical and monetary issues that come from being a child influencer." 

"When children become stars in their family’s online content, they become child influencers. It is more than just filming your family life and putting it online," Franke said in her statement. "It is a full-time job, with employees, business credit cards, managers, and marketing strategies. The difference between family vlogging and a normal business, however, is that the employees are all children. Children, from before they are born to the day they turn 18, have become the stars of family businesses on YouTube, Instagram, and most other social media platforms." 

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Franke explained that while family vlogging may first appear to be an "alluring" business venture that delivers high revenues for families, it can often lead to families bribing their children into posting embarrassing moments online for money. There are no laws on the books that even guarantee children will earn money for their work. 

"We’d be rewarded $100 or a shopping trip if we filmed a particularly embarrassing moment, or an exciting event," she recalled. "Or other times, simply going on vacation was expected to be payment enough—because most kids don’t get to go on regular and expensive vacations or trips. Never mind the fact that the child’s labor is actually what paid for the vacation or trip." 

Children are subjected to 24/7 labor under this model, the former influencer explained, and the publicity impacts their personal lives. 

"Some of our most popular videos were when my eyebrow was accidentally waxed off, and the whole world saw a crying teenager who just wanted to mourn in private," Franke told the legislature. "Or the time I was violently ill, and got the leading role in the video for that day. My friends became scarce, because dates would be filmed and none of my friends wanted to be on camera. The camera never stops, and there is no such thing as a vacation from filming." 

Franke said the children of family vloggers do not understand the long-term consequences these videos will have on their lives.  

"In any other context, it is understood that children cannot consent- but for some reason, people think family vlogging is different," she revealed. "I did not realize the impact that filming as a child would have on me now. My social media became flooded with rumors of having sexual relations with my own brother, to being called a ‘baby birthing machine’ at the age of 13. All these things have stuck with me, and I will forever live from the ages of 13-17 in many of our viewers' minds. In addition, pedophiles stalk the internet, specifically seeking out child influencers. I promise you that the parents are aware of these predators, and they choose to post their children anyway." 

While the former star says she did not ask the legislature to ban family vlogging, she says that is her ultimate goal. 

"While this may not seem like an issue now, as child influencers in Utah continue to grow up, I foresee there will be legal crises with these children realizing that vlogging has brought severe emotional distress," she pleaded. "Or, these kids may realize they don’t have an appropriate amount of money to show for their forced labor. After all, how does that child know how much they should have been making, compared to what they may or may not have received from their parent?" 

"I want to be absolutely clear that no amount of money can justify selling your soul, as a child; to the world," she said. "In no other industry would we justify unregulated child labor with a huge paycheck; and we should not do that here. 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. No amount of money I received has made what I’ve experienced worth it." 

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Franke, whose mother was arrested for child abuse, told the legislature she was not speaking as a "daughter of a felon, nor a victim of an abnormally abusive mother," but "as a victim of family vlogging." 

"There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger," Franke said. "... What price is worth giving up your childhood? ... Family vlogging ruined my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime."