Ruby Franke’s oldest daughter speaks to Utah lawmakers on behalf of children in family vlogs
Oct 16, 2024, 4:49 PM | Updated: Oct 18, 2024, 11:39 am
SALT LAKE CITY — After her mother, Ruby Franke, was arrested, convicted and sentenced for child abuse, Shari Franke was seemingly careful of her engagement with public comment afterward. On Wednesday, Shari Franke, 21, broke her silence in a public appearance at the Capitol.
She spoke to lawmakers on the Business and Labor Interim Committee Wednesday, advocating for more protections for child influencers.
Shari Franke, Ruby Franke’s oldest daughter, made some comments throughout the process of her mother’s case, beginning with a since-deleted Instagram post that showed a photo of police outside the Franke residence in Springville. The post was captioned with a single word: “Finally.”
1 year since Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt arrested for child abuse: Where the case stands
After that, Shari Franke remained mostly silent, and even told reporters through her attorney that she did not want to comment while at a hearing for her mother in September 2023.
On Tuesday, Shari Franke shared some additional big news on social media that she would be publishing a book titled “The House of My Mother” which is set to be published in January 2025.
“This book will cover the painful journey and experiences of growing up under intense public scrutiny,” she said, in the caption. “For years, millions tuned in, captivated by our lives, unaware of the darker realities that unfolded behind the scenes. And for the first time, I share my journey of finding myself outside of my childhood home.”
Shari Franke’s statement
Wednesday’s meeting was a chance for Shari Franke to speak to the Business and Labor Interim Committee on the “issue of minors and social media,” according to the meeting agenda.
“I don’t come today as the daughter of a felon nor as the victim of an abnormally abusive mother,” Shari Franke said. “I come today as a victim of family vlogging.”
In her opening statements, she told the committee her goal was “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 Franke said that family vlogging is comparable to family businesses, but the difference between family vlogging and a family business, she said, are that all children are employees.
“Utah is specifically a hot spot for family content due to the LDS culture around family and the goal to share the church with the world,” Shari Franke said. “We also have large families, which makes family content more lucrative.”
She said she’s hopeful family vlogging will ultimately be banned.
“I want to be clear, there is never ever a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame,” Shari Franke said. “There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger.”
The family vlog became the main source of income for the Franke family. She said she was paid for her work, which helped in her adult life.
“However, this payment was usually a bribe,” she said. “For example, we’d be awarded $100 or a shopping trip if we filmed a particularly embarrassing moment or an exciting event in our lives.”
Shari Franke said there is no law ensuring that the children of family vlogs are paid for their labor and exposure.
“If a family account does not become an LLC, parents are taxed heavily for paying their children,” Shari Franke told the committee. “But parents also receive tax write-offs for the clothes that they wear, the gas money used to drive places, and even the houses they live in. Anything that is filmed can be written off.”
“How do we determine how much a child should make from appearing in online content? What price is worth giving up your childhood?” she asked the committee members.
In her experience, starring in a family vlog was a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week role. Shari Franke shared examples of times when she wanted to mourn privately, be with her friends, or go on dates, but had a camera ready to record every experience. She told the committee this caused her friends to become scarce, as they did not want to be filmed.
“The camera never stops, and there is no such thing as a break from filming,” Shari Franke said.
Shari Franke said that filming as a child has caused her to face consequences in her adult life.
“My social media became flooded with rumors of having sexual relations with my own brother, to being called a ‘baby birthing machine’ at 13,” she told the committee. “All these things have stuck with me, and I will forever live between the ages of 13 to 17 in many of my viewers’ minds.”
Shari Franke said some parents who run family-vlogging accounts are aware of pedophiles on the internet who look for this type of content. She said some of them choose to post their children anyway.
“I am not asking you to ban family vlogging, though that is my ultimate goal,” Shari Franke said. “I also understand that as Utahns, we don’t appreciate big government overreach. But when it comes to protecting children, it should be a bipartisan issue.”
The only people being harmed by child influencer laws, she said, are the parents exploiting their children. She said that as these children grow up, she foresees “legal crises,” when kids realize the impact, both emotional and financial, this role caused them.
“Even despite a good paycheck, I want to be absolutely clear, that there is no amount of money that can justify selling your soul as a child to the world,” Shari Franke said. “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’ve received has made what I experienced worth it.”
Shari Franke closed her statements by saying she was proud to be one of the first Utah child influencers to be speaking on this issue.
“Family vlogging ruined my innocence, long before Ruby committed a crime,” she said.
After her statement, the committee chose to convene the special session due to the meeting running late. The presentation on child influencer laws was cut short, and a witness who prepared a two-minute statement was postponed until the next session.
Shari Franke has been working on the issue with Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek. He’s proposing protections for child actors and child influencers.
“We can’t intrude too much on family life,” Owens said. “What we can do is protect the kid financially so that if they’re making a lot of money for the family, they should participate in that, and the parents should put that money in a trust for them, so that by the time they become an adult, that that money is there for them.”
Owens suggested families set aside money for the children featured in the content.
“At least 15%, I think, for the child actors to be split,” he said. “That seems to be a number that a lot of states have adopted and Utah to consider starting at that point.”
He also wants child performers to be able to remove content they’re featured in that they don’t like once they reach a certain age.
“I think we need to get educated on the issue,” Owens said. “I personally don’t view a lot of this kind of content of family social media posting but I’m coming to learn that it is disruptive and bad for children in some ways. And so I think one is for people to get educated about it and decide what policy changes might be helpful to protecting kids.”
Kevin Franke, Shari Franke’s father, also appeared recently in a Child Welfare Oversight Panel, where he called for reform after a Division of Child and Family Services investigation in a different case.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct minor grammatical errors.