In a first, France passes new law banning parents from sharing children's photos online
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The French National Assembly has passed legislation banning parents from sharing photos of their children on social media platforms.
A first of its kind, the bill proposed by French MP Bruno Studer of President Emmanuel Macron’s party was approved unanimously and has been welcomed by child psychologists and social media experts.
Studer is part of the delegation for children’s rights. He warned that 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themselves circulating on the internet which can be used for child pornography or lead to bullying at schools.
Studer told Le Monde that a 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themselves circulating on the internet. These can be 'misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment'.
As per the bill, 50 percent of the images traded on forums for child pornography came from parents who posted about them on social media.
The move comes as part of protecting the privacy and well-being of children online. The bill aims to make parents responsible for the privacy rights of their children who cannot consent to their images being uploaded online.
It aims to demonstrate to children that their parents do not have any absolute right over their images. It also seeks to punish influencer parents who try to gain followers and earn money by posting images of their children.
With the Bill prohibiting parents from posting images of their youngsters online, both parents will be held responsible for their children’s image rights. In extreme cases deemed to ‘seriously affect the child's dignity or moral integrity, a family judge taking away one parent's rights to share images of their child, if deemed excessive or harmful.
The decision to post images would have to involve the child, based on their age and maturity level, with courts able to ban posting if either parent disagreed.
The French Council of Associations for the Rights of Children has cited alerts from Europol and Interpol regarding the proliferation of online child sex abuse content and the prevalence of self-produced content by young people themselves or those around them.
Once this bill goes through the French Senate and gets approved by the President, it will be implemented across the country.
