Police investigating Utah mom-fluencer after online uproar over video she posted of her son

The Utah mom influencer behind the viral “17 diapers” trend is being investigated by police after an internet uproar over a video that appeared to show her son flinching.

TikToker Hannah Hiatt, previously known online as Nurse Hannah, has since deleted the video, which was filmed in a grocery store and appeared to show her toddler startling and briefly hiding his face as his father walks up to him. As People Magazine reports, the video sparked hundreds of comments from people concerned for the boy’s well-being.

A spokesperson for the police department in Ogden, Utah, confirmed with CBC News 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 they would not be releasing further details at this time.

CBC News could not reach out to Hiatt due to her online security settings. But she posted a response to the initial reactions on Nov. 29, starting out by saying, “the fact I have to even address this right now is kind of insane.”

“Social media is just — it’s a scary place,” Hiatt said in the video titled “My explanation,” which currently has 27.5 million views, and the comments turned off.

In the three-minute video, Hiatt says she never used to understand why people felt unsafe posting their children’s faces online, until now. She goes on to say her that her husband is “the sweetest, nicest, kindest, most loving, most nurturing father in the entire world.” 

“It makes me really sad that social media has turned it into something… or, me, I guess, it makes me really sad that I have turned it into something like that,” Hiatt said.

She further explained that the video people are “freaking out about” shows James and his father playing, something she says they often do by scaring each other.

“Nothing is going on,” Hiatt said tearfully.

The dark side of sharenting

The allegations haven’t been proven, no arrest has been made and the only detail we know about the investigation right now is that the reports made to police included allegations of “criminal conduct.”

But some 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, practical reform of state labour laws nationwide to create protections for children who are being ‘sharented’ as part of a family business,” said Leah Plunkett, the author of Sharenthood: Why We Should Think Before We Talk About Our Kids Online.

This law reform should be in addition to existing state child welfare laws, Plunkett, who is also the executive director of Harvard Law School Online, told CBC News.

WATCH | The dark side of family influencers: 

“This woman is oversharing her life,” said L.A.-based forensic psychologist Dr. Leslie Dobson in a TikTok video posted Wednesday.

Dobson noted that people online aren’t just concerned about the toddler flinching, but other videos Hiatt has shared in the past, as well. Viewers online have expressed concern about a video where she and her husband appear not to let James eat in a restaurant, for instance. There’s another video that’s still online where she admits they “spank when necessary.”

As for the investigation, Dobson — who recently went viral herself for a video about why she doesn’t return shopping carts — said, “I don’t know if that’s just social media going after her.”

A term to describe parents sharing their children’s lives online, sharenting has existed since the 2000s, with the rise of so-called mommy bloggers and family influencers. But it increased dramatically during the pandemic, researchers have found. 

Hiatt shares her family’s life on popular TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts. CBC News has written previously about Hiatt, whose viral “17 diapers” video in October sparked an online trend where moms shared their day-to-day parenting struggles.

In a video posted to TikTok on Oct. 5, the mom of two wanders her house holding a garbage bag, and along the way, finds 17 balled-up diapers spread out among an array of kid drawings, baby wipes, inside-out kid clothes and water bottles.

The video went viral, and the reactions were extreme, ranging from disgust and shame to support and praise. Some early commenters on the original post called it “nasty,” saying there’s “no excuse” not to throw out diapers throughout the day.

Others defended her, pointing out she was five days postpartum, and praising her for sharing the struggles. Some even posted their own “17 diapers” moments in response. 

Comparison to Ruby Franke ‘comical’

In another video posted Nov. 30, Hiatt blasts people who have compared her to former YouTuber Ruby Franke, calling it “comical.”

Franke, a mother of six — also from Utah — who dispensed advice to millions via 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 counsellor Jodi Hildebrandt, had tried to convince Franke’s two youngest children that they were evil, possessed and needed to be punished to repent. 

In the Nov. 30 TikTok video, Hiatt called the comparison hilarious, saying that the fact that her children are “happy, healthy, they’re well-nourished, they’re running around playing” should be an indication that “everything is just fine.”

“We live in a world nowadays where people will turn nothing into something. We live in a world where people are so desperate to become TikTok famous, they will post about anything in order to get views for themselves. They don’t care if it’s going to bring someone down with it, they just want to become TikTok famous,” she added.

Hiatt has not posted on any of her accounts since Dec. 3, and has made her Instagram private. In her last YouTube post on Dec. 3, Hiatt shared a nine-and-a half minute “day in the life” video about coming off a nursing night shift and then waking up to parent her children.