CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses child abuse.
Shari Franke, the daughter of disgraced family vlogger Ruby Franke, has opened up about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother while testifying for harsher laws protecting child influencers.
In August 2023, Ruby Franke of the 8 Passengers YouTube account and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested for aggravated child abuse.
Months later, Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree felony child abuse and is now in prison with four consecutive sentences of one to 15 years.
More than a year later, Shari — who is the eldest daughter of Ruby — has revealed the dangers surrounding child influencers and family bloggers in a Utah Senate committee hearing.
“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,” Shari began.
“My goal 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.”
Shari continued her statement, adding that although she was paid money, the payment was “usually a bribe”. She then recalled a moment when she and her siblings were bribed with a $100 shopping trip if they “filmed a particularly embarrassing moment or an exciting event” in their lives.
Some of the examples she used were when she accidentally “waxed her eyebrow off” and how she copped a starring role in one of the family vlogs for being “violently ill”.
“When children become stars in their family’s online content, they become child influencers,” Shari 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.”
During her testimony, Shari linked her experience of being a child influencer to having Stockholm Syndrome, adding that although child influencers think they have control over what is presented online, it’s actually their guardians who use bribes or shame to get the content.
“It is children who do not understand the consequences of filming our lives and posting it for the world to see,” Shari told legislators.
“We cannot give consent to our parents 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 then highlighted how Utah is a “hotspot” for family vloggers and urged legislators to “tackle this issue before it becomes a bigger crisis than it already is”.
“Family vlogging ruined my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime,” Shari shared.
Shari’s testimony comes weeks after she slammed a movie based on Ruby and Jodi’s crimes starring Emilie Ullerup and Heather Locklear.
“Here’s my daily reminder about the Lifetime movie,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.
“Please do not support this movie. It is traumatic for me to see this happen. Please help me, and thank you for supporting me. To help, just do not watch the trailer or any promotions.”
Since then, Shari has made daily notes speaking out against the production of the film to her 612K Instagram followers.
Help is available.
- If you’d like to report online abuse, you can contact the police or reach out to the Australian eSafety Commissioner here.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about domestic violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
The post Ruby Franke’s Daughter Has Spoken Out About Her ‘Abusive’ Mother & Family Vlog appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
