Social media abuse continues after Jesinta Franklin’s missing children post

Jesinta Franklin has been lying low since deleting a post about racism and missing children this week … but that hasn’t stopped her followers heaping on the criticism.

The enormous backlash has continued for model Jesinta Franklin who dropped a bomb on her social media page accusing the media and society of racism, before quickly deleting the post this week.

On the same day people from across the world were celebrating news four-year-old Cleo Smith had been rescued after 18 days missing, Franklin shared a post to her Instagram story calling out the “disparity” between missing white and Indigenous children, saying “we need to do better for all children who go missing”.

Hours later, she deleted the post, and has been inundated with negative messages since.

Jesinta Franklin has received social media backlash after a comment she made in the wake of the rescue of Cleo Smith in WA. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The backlash comes in the wake of news that Franklin now has a full-time manager, Adam Finch. Finch declined to comment on Friday.

While a majority of Franklin’s followers agreed she had a point, most of them criticised the 30-year-old for other reasons.

Many claimed the timing of her post was insensitive, others criticised her for assuming Smith wasn’t Indigenous, while some slammed Franklin for never having campaigned for awareness of missing Indigenous children until now.

Earlier this year Franklin, who has two children, Tullulah, 20 months, and son Rocky, seven months, with proud Noongar man Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, said she was sadly resigned to the fact her children would face racism because of the colour of their skin. It is for this reason many of Franklin’s followers slammed her for assuming Smith was not Indigenous.

Jesinta, pictured with Buddy Franklin, says she fears …

their two children will face racism in future.

“She didn’t have to deliver it that way,” Beautifulpinay wrote.

“For one, colour doesn’t really tell if a person is Aboriginal or not. She is jumping to conclusions because of Cleo’s skin colour. How does she know she’s Aboriginal or NOT?”

Pete_vo2max asked Franklin why she had not campaigned for missing Indigenous children earlier: “Your timing of your comment was outrageous! If you really want to change things, why wait til now to jump on social media after Cleo was found and make a statement like that.”

Mel_issa_g81 slammed Franklin for deleting her post: “I have zero respect for someone who can make a statement in their stories then not face up to the backlash.”

Franklin, who appeared in Marie Claire magazine earlier this year, said: “I know I’m not always going to say the right thing, but we can’t let the fear of asking the wrong questions stop us from having conversations … If you get something wrong, admit it, apologise and actively do better.”

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