French lawmakers have approved a new legislation to help protect privacy of children on the internet. As per the law, parents in the country will be prohibited from sharing photos of their children without their permission. The French National Assembly unanimously approved the law.
The proposal was presented by Member of Parliament (MP) Bruno Studer, who said that the objective of the law was to empower parents and to make the younger generation realise that parents did not have complete right over their image.
Studer also said that more than half of the photographs exchanged on child pornography platforms were initially shared by parents on social media.
"The first two articles aim to establish the protection of privacy as one of the responsibilities of parents as holders of parental authority, for which they must obviously involve the child," Studer said.
"A 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themself circulating on the internet. These are photos that can be misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment," he added.
Thomas Rohmer, Founder and director of l’Observatoire de la Parentalité et de l’Éducation Numérique felt that while the new speaks about image rights, it does not emphasise sufficiently on a child's dignity.
Vanessa Lalo, a clinical psychologist felt that laws whose objective was to scare children could result in trust issues with adults or even lead to a feeling of betrayal.
