(S4, E13) Sins of the Mother: Family Vlogging and Child Endangerment
In the wake of the arrest of Utah-based ‘mommy blogger’ Ruby Franke and her offsider Jodi Hildebrandt on 6 counts of felony child abuse, we take a look at child stars of the YouTube age. How have social channels like YouTube pushed the format of family vlogging into unsafe territory? Why aren’t child influencers subject to the same labour laws as child actors? What protections are in place to prevent acts of serious harm?
Full list of references is here:
Ailbhe Rogers (2022, Library of Congress) - More Than Pocket Money: A History of Child Actor Laws
Amanda Bronstead (2011, The National Law Journal) - Coogan Law loophole leaves child actors at financial risk
Kelsey Ables and Kim Bellware (2023, The Washington Post) - What to know about Ruby Franke, parenting YouTuber charged with child abuse
Taylor Lorenz (2023, The Washington Post) - There are almost no legal protections for the internet’s child stars
Lindsay Dodgson (2020, Business Insider) - These YouTuber parents are speaking out after drama channels and TikTokers accused them of being abusive to their children and had child protective services visit their house
You can download a full transcript here.