Children's right to privacy

[DownstairsMixUp]

Morning everyone,

Just a general discussion but something I see more and more of online. I've just been watching a series on Tik tok of a 26 year old who was the child of a mummy blogger. She's raising awareness on there and hoping to change parents broadcasting their children's lives as she says it has damaged her and the relationship she has with her mother.

My question is, why is there nothing stricter on protecting a child's right to a private life? So many celebrities and influencers put their child's face in full view on social media to millions of followers, broadcasting everything from bath time to milestones... am I the only one that finds it odd? I'd hate to have got to my age and scroll back and see my whole childhood online with strangers commenting on me.

Does it make anyone else really uncomfortable that this just seems to be accepted? Just because we bring a child in the world, do we own the rights to their privacy and dignity?

I totally agree! Imagine your employer being able to google pictures of you in the bath as a child, it doesn’t matter if they’re censored.

Fern Mccan’s daughter was filmed on her reality show going to the loo in the woods ffs!

Not only the privacy aspect but the security is worrying. It’s easy to find out where a blogger/celebrity lives, work out where the child goes to school and when they do the school run. If you know lots of information about the child you could easily lie and say you know mummy. The mind boggles!

My gut instinct is that it is an area where regulations lag behind technological/social/cultural changes. It is seen as a family matter and from the perspective of sharing photos with friends and family whereas now audiences for online photos are thousands of strangers not just your neighbours looking at printed holiday photos. And for a lot of these people it is now their work but, because of the same lag in perception, there is none of the protection that children get if they are traditionally employed (work permits for 13-16 year olds, performance licenses and chaperones for children etc)

@DownstairsMixUp

Morning everyone,

Just a general discussion but something I see more and more of online. I've just been watching a series on Tik tok of a 26 year old who was the child of a mummy blogger. She's raising awareness on there and hoping to change parents broadcasting their children's lives as she says it has damaged her and the relationship she has with her mother.

My question is, why is there nothing stricter on protecting a child's right to a private life? So many celebrities and influencers put their child's face in full view on social media to millions of followers, broadcasting everything from bath time to milestones... am I the only one that finds it odd? I'd hate to have got to my age and scroll back and see my whole childhood online with strangers commenting on me.

Does it make anyone else really uncomfortable that this just seems to be accepted? Just because we bring a child in the world, do we own the rights to their privacy and dignity?

What's the series, OP, would like to watch it!

We haven’t posted photos of our DC on social media for this reason even though we have high privacy settings on our accounts. I don’t think it’s fair on them.

Stacey Solomon makes money by having photos of her children on Instagram.

The two women from Towie, sisters, have TV shows and involve their children’s antics.

It’s all about the money and not the children’s feelings.

I agree OP. We don't have kids yet but want to, and in this modern age one of the views we've made sure we're aligned on is social media. Neither of us would be comfortable with endless pictures of our kids online; we don't 'own' our children after all and aren't we all horrified enough by parents getting the baby photos albums out, without those albums being online for the whole world to see?!?

I unfollowed a friend of mine when she posted her kid sitting on the potty on Instagram. It felt intrusive and uncomfortable and I actually know them

But it really makes me feel uncomfortable kids being used as money makers basically.

I hope it is looked in to! A company advertising nappies or children's clothes would have strict rules in place over the use of child models to mKe them money but a parent making money through blogging and social media ads can do whatever they want with their kids.

I expect more kick back as more of the kids grow up and object (though no doubt some will accept it as the norm and continue with the same approach).

When social media first started I think it is fair that maybe we didn't appreciate all the implications because it was new and at first you generally were speaking to a small audience (Facebook wasn't available to everyone for eg) but that's not really an excuse anymore.

I’m sure I read years ago celebrities have to OK newspapers posting pictures of their children’s faces? This could be wrong but that means the majority are ok with it?

Couldn't agree more OP.

Also, the amount of parents telling their kids that looks aren't important, whilst posting their images on social media, is astounding.

It's akin to telling them not to smoke while hanging a fag out of your mouth.

Yes if all these companies have rules and stuff to follow, why doesn't it apply to the parent? It feels like it's the "my baby my rules" crowd that seem to be the side that object to this and think a parent owns their child like it's some sort of doll!

Having just looked up the licensing rules on the back of this thread, they state a license is needed for modelling assignment where the child is paid. So a parent could just say the child isn't paid.

So, I think the law needs to catch up with bloggers/influencers who are making money because of content generated by their children.

Bit that doesn't really help with parents who aren't making a living off their family social media content but are sharing too much and too publicly. Not sure how you would address that. There was stuff on the BBC about it from the kids perspective ie: how to get you parent to stop. I think they called it 'sharenting'.

And of course if it is your child that is making your family brand money, maybe you should pay them (and then abide by employment law). But that's the problem when boundaries between private life and work get blurred as they have with social media influencing.

Here are a bunch of BBC articles from the past four years and one from a law firm. They are all about the casual sharing for likes etc not the commercialised use of children by influencers and bloggers. There is more BBC and other parenting site content if you Google using sharenting as the search term.

www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/are-you-sharing-too-much-online/p08bzl7t

www.bbc.com/ownit/its-personal/8-ways-to-spot-a-sharent

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-44153754

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-47722427

www.silkfamilylaw.co.uk/sharenting-risks-privacy/

Something that shocked me recently: Instagrammers putting their child's full name and birthdate in their bio. I'm not going to screenshot, but as an example Mrs. Hinch does it. Talk about putting their child's private info out there.