France may ban posting photos of children on social media

Parents in France have been restricted from posting photographs of their children on social media platforms, making the country the first in the world to do so.

Hyderabad: The French National Assembly passed legislation that may allow the courts of the country to restrict French parents from sharing images of their children on social media platforms. With that the country becomes the first in the world to pass such a bill.

However, it will have to pass the French Senate and be made official by the President, after which it will become a law in the country.

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Before uploading an image, the child’s consent must be taken based on his/her age and degree of maturity. If the child disagrees and the parents go ahead with posting the image, legal action may be taken.

According to the reports, even if one parent shares the photo, both mother and father will be liable and held responsible for the violation of their child’s image rights. However, at the moment there is little clarity among parents over the nuances of the rules but is expected to be clear soon.

The move comes at a time when an increasing number of parents are sharing their kids’ images online, in a phenomenon that is termed ‘sharenting’. The bill is represented by MP Bruno Studer and aims to curb the use of these images in child pornography.

In an interview with ‘Le Monde’, he said that about 50 per cent of photographs used in child pornography forums have been taken from accounts that parents use on social media.