France, green light to the proposal against photos of children on social media: “Parents respect the privacy of their children”
“Parents will have to be responsible.” France is preparing to approve a new clampdown on the publication of photos of minors by parents. A bill that aims to drastically stop the “unlimited” publication of photos of children on social media has today received the green light from the French National Assembly. “The message to parents is that their job is to protect the privacy of their children,” said Bruno Studer, signatory of the proposal and member of the party that supports Emmanuel Macron, Renaissance.
“On average, children have 1,300 photos of themselves circulating on social media platforms before the age of 13, before they’re even allowed to have an account,” explained last week the deputy, who had already passed a law requiring smartphone and tablet makers to give parents the ability to regulate their children’s Internet access, and another that establishes legal protections for YouTube stars.
The law approved today by the Assembly makes protecting the privacy of one’s children one of the obligations of parents. Both will have to be responsible for their children’s image rights and involve them in this matter “on the basis of their age and degree of maturity”. In the event of disagreements, a judge can prohibit one parent from sharing photos of the minors without the consent of the other. In extreme situations, that is, if the dissemination of photos of their children “severely damages their dignity or moral integrity”, parents may lose ownership of their children’s image rights, which will pass to the judge. The aim is to protect minors and demonstrate to them, according to Studer, that “their parents do not have an absolute right over their image”. According to a study cited in the text, 50 percent of photos on child pornography sites were initially shared by parents. The proposal will now have to pass the Senate and could undergo changes before final approval.
In France, the law already allows adults to report those who have disseminated their images without consent, with sentences of up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.
in divorce cases, images can be used to argue that one of the two parents is unreliable, to direct custody of the child.
The country also has regulations regarding underage influencers, whereby permission is required from the French labor inspectorate for posting images and videos featuring children under the age of 16 and where the intent is to earn money.
