Sharing photos of children online puts them at risk: advice from pediatricians
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Photo of the child on the first day of school, or while eating, sleeping, doing fun activities at home. For many parents, sharing photos of their children on social media is a consolidated habit, sometimes accompanied by the addition of details such as the name of the child, his age and where he lives.
According to a European study, parents share an average of 300 photos of their children online every year and by the time their fifth birthday they have already shared almost 1,000. The top three destinations for these photos are Facebook (54%), Instagram (16%) and Twitter (12%).
The practice of ‘sharenting’
However, there are lurking risks associated with “sharenting” (i.e. the habit of divulging content online, such as photos, videos, other information concerning one’s children), risks of which the parents themselves are often unaware and which involve issues relating the protection of the image of the minor, the confidentiality of personal data, digital security, and which can also expose them to child pornography.
Thus, while in France a bill that would like to limit the sharing of photos of children online is under discussion in Parliament, in Italy, as early as last November, the Guarantor for Childhood and Adolescence Carla Garlatti urged for sharenting the applicability of the provisions on cyberbullying, which allow minors to directly request the removal of content.
To take stock of this phenomenon is now a study already available online and being published in the journal Journal of Pediatricsof the European Pediatrics Association, of which Prof. Peter Ferrara, Head of the Study Group for the rights of the child of SIP, the Italian Society of Pediatrics. And suggestions for parents also come from SIP, to guarantee them and their children a safe digital environment.
A phenomenon that affects 7 out of 10 children in Europe
A recent work, cited in the study, shows that on average 81% of children living in Western countries have some online presence before the age of 2, a percentage which in the USA is equal to 92%, while in Europe it stands at 73%. %. Recent data shows that within weeks of birth, 33% of babies have their own photos and information posted online. And an increasing number of children are born digitally even before natural birth. In fact, it is also estimated that a quarter of children have some kind of online presence before coming into the world: in the United States, 34% of parents routinely publish ultrasound scans online, a percentage that stands at 15% in Italy.
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What drives sharing and what are the risks
In most cases, the intentions of parents who share online photos of their children are harmless: to document the growth of the little ones, to share anxieties and worries in search of emotional support, to search for information in the educational, pediatric and school fields.
The three types of photos that are most published are of daily life (while the child sleeps, plays, eats), of outings or trips and of special moments (Christmas, baptism, first day of school, birthdays). “However, it should not be underestimated that this practice can be associated with a series of problems that mainly affect children”, explains Pietro Ferrara. “Often, in fact, parents do not think that what is shared on social media, sometimes even very personal and detailed, dangerously exposes children to a series of risks, first of all identity theft. Not to mention that intimate and personal information, that should remain private, in addition to the risk of being misused by others, can cause embarrassment for the child once he becomes an adult (for example in job interviews, university entrance tests).Finally, this type of sharing from part of the parents may inadvertently deprive children of their right to determine their own identity”. In a survey of Swedish children published in 2020, it emerged that, practically unanimously, children wanted permission to be asked before taking or sharing photos of them.
Who protects the image of minors by law?
“In our legal system – Pietro Ferrara points out – the image of the person is protected by various rules: the law on copyright which provides that no portrait of a person can be exhibited without the latter’s consent; the article 10 of the civil code, which allows the request to remove an image that damages the dignity of a subject with the consequent possibility of compensation for damages.However, an ambiguity must also be highlighted in the regulations that protect the image as we are talking about ‘consent of the interested party’ which, in the case of a minor, must be offered by his legal representative (article 316 of the Civil Code), i.e. the parent”.
Half of the images end up on child pornography sites
Among the risks of social sharing of private contents there is also that they end up on child pornography sites: a survey conducted by theeSafety Commission found that around 50% of the material on these sites came from social media where it had previously been shared by users who were mostly unaware of how easily it could be downloaded, not just by friends, but strangers as well.
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“Paediatricians are central figures in making parents aware of the dangers associated with online sharing. To protect children’s privacy, families can be explained what the possible defensive strategies are. It is important to support mothers and fathers, balancing the natural inclination to share proudly the progress of children with information on the risks associated with the practice of sharenting”, says the President of SIP Anna Maria Staiano.
Five tips for parents
- Be aware that sharenting is an increasingly widespread practice, but this does not mean that its potential dangers should be underestimated. Sharing images, videos and any type of content that has children as protagonists means, in fact, building a child’s “digital dossier” without her consent and without him being aware of it.
- Sharing materials and information about your children on social media must include a certain caution and, in many occasions, anonymity, because what is shared in a detailed and personal way, such as the location or full name, could dangerously expose children to a series of risks, first of all identity theft.
- Do not share pictures of your children in any state of nudity. These images should always be kept private due to the potential risk that they could be misused by others.
- Turn on notifications that notify parents when their child’s name appears in search engines.
- Respect the consent and privacy rights of minors, then familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of the sites on which you share content. Article 31 of the Constitution “protects motherhood, childhood and youth, favoring the institutions necessary for this purpose” and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent underlines how primacy must necessarily be given to the interests and dignity of the minor.
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