No matter how good their intentions are, there’s always going to be scepticism around influencers who’ve built their entire online empire by capturing content of their children. Family vloggers have a bad reputation—and for good reason. I think it’s fair to say that the extreme abuse uncovered in the trial of family influencer Ruby Franke scarred all of us. Monetising childhood is a highly controversial topic, and with growing scrutiny from both society and the law, the real question is: How far will parents go in order to hold onto their income?

Welcome back to Explained By a Blonde, girlies. This week, we’re diving into some fresh TikTok drama—I know, one of my favourite pastimes. Specifically, we’ll be taking a closer look at the online theory that claims family vloggers are fleeing Los Angeles due to newly introduced California laws and regulations designed to protect children who feature in online content.

For anyone out of the loop, swathes of new legislation have been passed in different states over the last few years to try and protect ‘child influencers’ and preemptively stop parents from pinching their kids’ hard-earned moolah.

Among other states, California recently jumped on the bandwagon. Governor Gavin Newsom, championed by child star Demi Lovato, signed two pieces of legislation in September 2024 to “ensure children and teenagers who perform in online content are protected from financial abuse.”

One of the most important bits of the new legislation details “establishes financial and legal protections for minors featured in monetised online content (i.e. child vloggers) by mandating their parent or guardian set aside a percentage of their earnings in trust accounts.”

people on tik tok talking about the family vloggers fleeing California because of the new legislation that requires they set money aside for their children who are being used for content.. wait till I remind them that it was demi lovato who championed this legislation pic.twitter.com/cDlmlyFqM9

— gati ⍟ (@youIovemelikexo) February 21, 2025

Lovato, an outspoken advocate for greater protections for children in the entertainment business, stated: “In order to build a better future for the next generation of child stars, we need to put protections in place for minors working in the digital space.”

So, all good stuff, right? Well, not for everyone, it seems. To prove my point, we’ll focus on influencer Brittany Xavier, a lifestyle creator who regularly films content with her three children, two of whom are extremely young.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Brittany Xavier (@brittanyxavier)

Xavier recently announced that the family were relocating to Tennessee sooner than initially planned because they’d found “mould” in their Los Angeles home. But as far as TikTok netizens were concerned, the timing was highly suss. Many people became convinced that Xavier’s eagerness to move across the country was directly related to California’s new child labour regulations.

helpppp I just learned that child vlogging laws are more lenient in tennessee than they are in LA so it is making so much sense why all these influencers and family vloggers (I.e, the labrants) have upped and moved to nashville bye 💀💀 plus they’re all conservative too sksksksks

— stace ⸆⸉ 🤍 (@staystaystace) February 20, 2025

@soogia1

I truly think family channels should not exist, but if they’re going to, the children in these families deserve to be compensated. And moving locations should not affect that. @Brittany Xavier #familyvlog #compensation #cooganlaw #brittanyxavier #greenscreen

♬ Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers

After users began leaving comments under Xavier’s social media videos theorising this, the influencer posted a clip in response dispelling the rumours and asserting that the move was completely unrelated. The creator also stated that she and her husband were taking all of the proper steps to ensure their children would be financially compensated for any videos they appeared in.

@brittany.xavier

the tea is ice cold, y’all! don’t believe everything you see online.

♬ original sound - Brittany Xavier

@hopeyoufindyourdad

@Brittany Xavier Brittany Xavier controversy has brought up a great point of how many family vlogs do view and use children #familyvlog #brittanyxavier #parents #greenscreenvideo #greenscreen

♬ original sound - Andra - Andra

The problem is that Xavier’s video didn’t really convince anyone of anything. Moreover, certain replies that she left in the comments section only further fuelled the fire. Basically, the girl just made things worse.

“So you wanted a red state,” one user wrote. The creator replied: “CA leadership is a mess at the moment, they need help. Hoping here has competent leadership, we shall see.” It’s giving MAGA energy, let’s be real…

After it also surfaced that one of Xavier’s comments exposed her as a big fan of Vice President JD Vance, former fans of the influencer began making content expressing their upset and disappointment. 

@just_keep_reading

publicly admitting you liked jd vance’s speech in munich????? #brittanyxavier #trump #kamala

♬ original sound - 𝕃𝕪𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕤 - user31218590737

@emma.romano

bc my hard earned, and carefully thought out FYP views will not he funding any JD vance rallys! #controversy #familyvloggers #brittanyxavier #influencers #cancelculture

♬ original sound - emma

One of my favourite comments left under Xavier’s video was “The wellness to white supremacy pipeline is real.”

I don’t think we’ll ever fully know whether or not the new child labour laws in California influenced Xavier’s family in particular. However, let’s be real with each other, it’s well known that family vloggers will protect their future funds at all costs. And while we might not have learnt that much more about Xavier’s motivations, we damn sure learned more about her political ideology.