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The Utah mom influencer behind the viral “17 diapers” trend is being investigated by police after a Internet uproar over a video that seemed to show his son wincing.
TikToker Hannah Hiatt, formerly known online as nurse hannaHe has since deleted the video, which was filmed in a grocery store and seemed to show his little one surprisingly and briefly hides his face as his father approaches him. As People Magazine The video reportedly sparked hundreds of comments from people concerned about the boy’s well-being.
A spokesperson for the Ogden, Utah, police department confirmed to CBC News on Thursday that there is an “open and active” investigation into Hiatt’s videos.
“Last week, the Ogden Police Department received multiple reports regarding a collection of ‘viral’ videos circulating on social media,” Lt. Will Farr told CBC News via email.
“Many of these reports included allegations of criminal conduct, prompting the initiation of an official investigation. The case remains open and active,” Farr said, adding that they would not release any further details at this time.
CBC News was unable to contact Hiatt due to his online security settings. But he posted a response to the initial reactions on Nov. 29, beginning by saying, “The fact that I even have to address this right now is kind of crazy.”
“Social media is just a scary place,” Hiatt said in the video titled “My explanation”, which currently has 27.5 million views and comments are disabled.
In the three-minute video, Hiatt says that until now she had never understood why people felt unsafe posting their children’s faces online. She goes on to tell her that her husband is “the sweetest, kindest, kindest, loving, most loving father in the entire world.”
“I’m very sad that social media has turned it into something… or, I guess, I’m very sad that it’s turned it into something like that,” Hiatt said.
She further explained that the video that people are “freaking out over” shows James and his father playing, something she said they often do to scare each other.
“It’s okay,” Hiatt said through tears.
The dark side of sharing
The allegations have not been proven, no arrests have been made and the only detail we know about the investigation at this time is that reports submitted to police included allegations of “criminal conduct.”
But some I have observed that Hiatt’s story illustrates the darker side of so-called sharenting and its effects on children.
“The allegations against Hannah Hiatt highlight the need for ethical and practical reform of state labor laws across the country to create protections for children who are being ‘shared’ as part of a family business,” said Leah Plunkett, author of Sharenthood: Why we should think before talking about our children online.
This legal reform should be added to the state’s existing child welfare laws, Plunkett, who is also executive director of Harvard Law School Online, told CBC News.
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“This woman is sharing her life too much,” he said. forensic psychologist Dr. Leslie Dobson in a TikTok video posted Wednesday.
Dobson pointed out that people online Not only are they worried about the toddler shaking, but also other videos Hiatt has shared in the past. Online viewers have expressed concern over a video in which she and her husband It seems like he won’t let James eat in a restaurant.For example. There is another video that is still online where she admits that “spank when necessary“.
As for the investigation, Dobson, who recently went viral for a video about why she doesn’t return shopping carts, said, “I don’t know if it’s just social media coming after her.”
Sharenting, a term to describe parents who share their children’s lives online, has been around since the 2000s, with the rise of so-called mom bloggers and family influencers. but increased dramatically during the pandemic, researchers have found.
Hiatt shares her family’s life on popular TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. CBC News has previously written about Hiatt, whose viral “17 Diapers” video in October sparked an online trend where moms shared their daily struggles as mothers.
In a video posted to TikTok on October 5, the mother of two wanders around her house holding a garbage bag and, along the way, finds 17 rolled-up diapers scattered among an assortment of children’s drawings, baby wipes, and drawings. of upside down children. clothes and water bottles.
The video went viral.and the reactions were extreme, from disgust and embarrassment to support and praise. Some early commenters on the original post called it “disgusting” and said there is “no excuse” for not throwing away diapers throughout the day.
Others defended her, pointing out that she was five days postpartumand praising her for sharing the struggles. Some They even published their own “17 diapers” moments in response.
Comparison to ‘comical’ Ruby Franke
in another video Posted on November 30, Hiatt criticizes people who have compared her to former YouTuber Ruby Franke, calling it “comical.”
Franke, a mother of six, also from Utah, who gave advice to millions of people through a popular YouTube channel, was sentenced in February to up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.
She and her former business partner, mental health counselor Jodi Hildebrandt, had tried to convince Franke’s two youngest children that they were evil, possessed, and needed to be punished to repent.
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In the Nov. 30 TikTok video, Hiatt called the comparison hilarious and said the fact that her kids are “happy, healthy, well-fed, and running around and playing” should be an indication that “everything is fine.” “. good.”
“We live in a world today where people turn nothing into something. We live in a world where people are so desperate to become famous on TikTok that they will post about anything to get views for themselves. They don’t care if it’s ‘I’m going to knock someone down with that, he just wants to get famous on TikTok,” he added.
Hiatt has not posted to any of his accounts since December 3 and has made his Instagram private. in his last YouTube post On December 3, Hiatt shared a nine-and-a-half-minute “day in the life” video about finishing a night nursing shift and then waking up to raise her children.
