Kevin Franke Admits He Regrets Vlogging Family 'Every Day' as His Children Say They're Still Dealing with 'Trauma of YouTube'

Mar. 15, 2025

Kevin Franke.Photo:Disney/Kai Pfaffenbach

Disney/Kai Pfaffenbach

Kevin Frankeis reflecting on how vlogging negatively affected his family.

“Vlogging my family, putting my children into public social media, was wrong, and I regret it every day,” Kevin said when addressing the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee in support of HB322 in the Provo courthouse on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

8 Passengers / YouTube

The committee unanimously passed the bill, which “would require creators who make more than $150,000 a year from online content featuring children to set aside 15% of it into a trust fund that the children can access when they turn 18,” reportedThe Salt Lake Tribune.

In addition, the bill would give children the opportunity when adults to “ask for the content they appeared in as kids to be removed from web platforms,” per the outlet.

Kevin, Shari and Chad Franke.Disney/Kai Pfaffenbach

“Children cannot give informed consent to be filmed on social media, period,” Kevin stated to the committee. “If we, as adults, cannot understand the emotional and psychological impacts of sharing our lives to millions of strangers online, how can we expect our children to understand them?”

According toThe Salt Lake Tribune, Kevin deemed the bill “a great step towards protecting child influencers” in Utah. “And there is much more to do in the future,” he added.

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Moms of Truth/Instagram

Also during the Tuesday hearing, Kevin read statements from two of his daughters, ages 11 and 16, in support of the bill, both of which were submitted to a juvenile court for approval.

The elder daughter backed the bill that allows adults to request content they made as children be removed from the internet. “As kids, you don’t realize what you’re subjected to, really,” her statement read in part, per the outlet.

“You’re selling your life, your privacy, your body and stories to the entire world — and as a child, you’re involuntarily giving up all of that,” the statement continued. “You’re selling your childhood. Though there is no amount of money that can make up for that loss, the least that can be done now is making sure the child is getting paid for her work and has the right to remove it and walk away if she wants to.”

In the 11-year-old daughter’s statement, she hoped the bill would “keep the children of Utah more safe,” later admitting that she is “stuck with the trauma of YouTube.” The statement explained how her documented childhood online negatively impacted her in the years that followed.

Shari Franke.Disney/Kai Pfaffenbach

Furthermore, Shari chronicled her experiences in her new memoirThe House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. In January, she told PEOPLE she “witnessed the damage of what happens when your life is put online” and believes that “there’s no ethical way to do it.”

source: people.com