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.