Ruby Franke’s oldest daughter, Shari, recently spoke to the Utah House of Representatives about giving child influencers more protection.
Shari was part of her mother’s popular family YouTube Channel “8 Passengers” for years until Ruby was sentenced to 30 years in prison back in February for abusing her 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter. Speaking to the Business and Labor Interim Committee on Wednesday, October 16, Shari said, “I don’t come today as the daughter of a felon, nor a victim of an abnormally abusive mother. I come today as a victim of family vlogging.”
Laws for the children of family vloggers have only recently begun to come to fruition. Legislation was passed last month in California requiring parents to set aside money earned by child social media influencers. The law required 15 percent of children and teens’ earnings to be placed in a trust left untouched until their 18th birthday. The law, called the Coogan Law, previously only applied to child actors.
Illinois also amended its labor laws in July 2024 to require minors 16 or younger to be paid if they appear in 30 percent or more of their parent’s or caregiver’s social media content over 30 days and the number of views received per video met the online platform’s threshold for compensation.
“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,” Shari said.
She emphasized that the business’s employees are children, listing specific moments from the deactivated YouTube channel that made a large profit.
“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,” she said.
“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 former influencer highlighted that vlogging is common specifically in Utah with Latter-day Saints families wanting to share the culture of the Mormon church with the world. They tend to have larger families, which Shari said made their content “more lucrative.”
She explained that social media quickly became her family’s primary source of income. In terms of the compensation she received, she mentioned a “$100 shopping spree” for filming an embarrassing moment or going on a family vacation.
Shari continued: “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.”
The former YouTuber recently announced in an Instagram post that she has written a memoir titled The House of my Mother, which is set to be released on January 7, 2025.
“After years of silence, I’m finally sharing MY story in my own words,” she wrote in the caption. “This book will cover the painful journey and experiences of growing up under intense public scrutiny. 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. THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER is my story of resilience, truth, and finding my own voice amidst the chaos.”
