New parents are ecstatic when and excited to show the world their newborn. As a matter of fact, since the dawn of social media and technological advances, a lot of new parents constantly share photos of their babies taking a shower, and being cute. However, there have been new laws which make it illegal to post your child’s photos online. You might be thinking, does this have something to do with privacy? To have a quick answer to that, yes, parents should be aware of this.
Recently, a professor in Social Research and Education came up with a discovery. This involves a certain type of embarrassment and backlash to the children when they grow up. As a matter of fact, when a child turns five (5) his or her parents have already posted around 1,500 pictures of him or her online.
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In France, this is kind of a big deal. You might even come across some legalities when you post pictures of your baby online, especially if they’re not wearing clothes. Professor Nicola Whitton said that posting baby photos of your child can have a possible backlash in their teen to early adult year:
I think we’re going to get a backlash in years to come from young people coming to realize that they’ve had their whole lives, from the day they were born, available to social media.
Parents would have to work out what’s right for them, but to also be aware that this is another person, another human being who may not possibly thank them fifteen (15) years after.”
Another story is in Kenya, where President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Cybercrimes Act. This revolves around parents posting n**e baby photos, openly sharing it on the Internet to be an illegal act of child pornography. Being caught violating this act will fine parents a maximum of SH20 million (Somalian Shilling.)
According to the law, this depicts the act of sharing children’s n***d bodies over the Internet and involves using a minor, engaging in inappropriate, and sexually explicit conduct.
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Advocate specialist Enricah Dulo, said that even though there’s no harm done in sharing the baby’s current condition, or laughter, as long as the private parts are visible, it’s seen as violating the law and will be subject to the penalties and consequences of it. Even if the parents are seeking medical advise from people over the Internet, if the baby’s g******s are clearly shown, then they’re clearly violating the law.
It may not fall under child pornography, but the children’s act is clear. Depicting the images of a n***d child is an obvious violation of their rights, particularly the right to protection against a***e.”
A separate research was done by Nominet and said that British parents post around two-hundred (200) pictures of their children are already up online even before they turn five years old (5).
The French government is now imposing a strict law that would make parents think twice before posting their babies’ n***d photos online. The French people are extremely discouraged by this; officials have warned most parents since they could be jailed or fined upon the violation of this.
According to the privacy law, intimate and sensitive baby photos are not to be permitted without the own child’s permission. Guilty parents that are going to be found could be fined up to £35,000 which is equal to $45, 524.
What can parents do to post their child’s photo online?
As long as the photos are decent, as long as it doesn’t show the babies’ g******s, they have the freedom to share it to a million people all over the Internet. Some nations still do not have a law that goes around this but, of course, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Make sure that the photos that you share online won’t have a thing or two that would substantially embarrass the child when they grow up. It’s fine to share the photos of your child as long as it’s not sensitive; it’s okay to post your child’s photos online as long as it is seen respectable and private. You can poke fun of them when they grow up but by posting sensitive and intimate photos online is a big no-no.
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What do you think about this? Do you think that this is the right path? Wouldn’t it be boring and dull without these pictures? As we mentioned, it’s fine to take those photos, but, of course, keep it private. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
