In recent years, young families eager to create their own family vlogging empires have raced to California in Gold Rush style fashions to take advantage of the ample opportunities. Now, they’re fleeing to the Southeast. What is causing the family vloggers to leave? In the wake of the new documentary “Devil in the Family” it is more important now than ever to pay attention to those who are running from this new law.
The 8 Passengers
Arguably the most notable of the family vlogging channels was that of the 8 Passengers. The channel was started by mother Ruby Franke in 2015 as an outlet to talk about life as a religious mother and share her experiences raising children. Throughout the seven years the channel was active, fans noticed concerning behavior from Ruby in regards to how she parented her children. A situation I vividly remember was when she got a call from her daughter’s kindergarten teacher requesting that Ruby bring in lunch for her child. Ruby refused, stating that it was her daughter’s responsibility – since she forgot to pack her lunch, she will have to be hungry. It’s not outright abusive, but definitely weird behavior that fans and casual viewers picked up on.
It hit the fan in June 2020 after Ruby had accidentally revealed in a vlog that her son Chad had been sleeping on a beanbag chair for seven months since she took away his “privilege of a room.” It was at this point that cancel culture took over, rightfully so, and the 8 Passengers were no longer able to run the way that they had. Ruby rebranded the account into “Moms of Truth,” a religious class-like educational program. Therefore nobody was shocked in August 2023 when Ruby and fellow creator Jodi Hildebrant were arrested at Jodi’s home for six counts of child abuse. The pair had been keeping Ruby’s 9 and 12 year old children locked up in a “work camp-like setting” due to Ruby and Jodi’s religious extremism. Ruby’s eldest daughter, Shari Franke, wrote a book entitled “The House of My Mother” detailing how vlogging created a toxic and abusive environment inside their home. Shari’s book also described how her mother was able to make money from the vlogs, essentially turning her and her siblings into employees. It is safe to say the Franke’s inspired a number of families to create channels of their own. Other popular channels from back in the day include The Ballingers, Bratayley, The Shaytards, etc.
California fights back
Although the Franke’s lived in Utah, California is generally the hot spot for family vloggers or wannabe influencers. Specifically the Los Angeles area is seething with opportunity for young families, specifically parents who want to make money off the backs of their children.
In September 2024, California governor Gavin Newsome signed a bill created by himself and Demi Lovato that protects the financial security of child influencers. SB 764 (Padilla) “establishes financial and legal protections for minors featured in monetized online content (i.e., child vloggers) by mandating their parent or guardian set aside a percentage of their earnings in trust accounts.” This law prevents parents from taking advantage of their children who are too young to manage their own finances. The law officially went into effect on January 1st, 2025 and coincidentally, a bunch of family influencers announced to their fans that they are moving east.
An influencer who took the most heat is a woman named Brittany Xavier. She is known for posting family content and is now under fire for announcing her family’s decision to move from the Los Angeles area to Tennessee. Tennessee and other southern states do not have the same laws in place meant to protect children from financial exploitation like California does, so fans of hers as well as other social media users were suspicious of her motives. She publicly denied the claim that she is running from the new law, but the internet remained suspicious after she revealed that her 18 year-old daughter will be staying in California to finish school while Brittany and her husband would move with their two younger children.
So what?
In the wake of Ruby Franke’s kids now being old enough to share their stories, it is vital for us as a society to pay closer attention to who we choose to watch online. Monetization from Youtube or other social media platforms is what enables parents to treat their children like employees. Although California is taking the right steps towards ending online exploitation of children, as long as other states don’t have the law in place the pattern of abuse will continue.