French parents could be banned from sharing photos of their children on social media

French parents could be banned from sharing photos of their children on social media, under new legislation agreed by lawmakers today.

The law, passed by France’s National Assembly, would give courts the power to ban parents from posting photos of their children online.

Both parents would be jointly responsible for their children’s image rights, and any decision to post them online would include the child on the basis of “their age and level of maturity,” with courts able to prohibit publication if either parent disagreed.

Parents could also lose authority over their children’s image rights if the post “seriously compromises the child’s dignity or moral integrity.”

MP Bruno Struder, who proposed the bill earlier this month, said the law aims to “empower parents” and show young people that their parents have no “absolute right” to their image.

The law, passed by France’s National Assembly, would give courts the power to ban parents from posting photos of their children online

Mr Struder, who has made a career in online child safety, said in an interview with Le Monde: “A 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 pictures of themselves circulating on the internet.

“These are photos that can be misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment.”

The proposed law comes after an upsurge in the trend of “sharing,” which the bill’s rationale poses as one of the top risks to children’s privacy.

It also explains that 50 percent of photos used on child pornography forums were originally posted by parents on social media.

Mr. Struder added: “The first two articles aim to establish privacy protection as one of the responsibilities of parents as holders of parental authority, for which they must of course involve the child.”

“In the most extreme cases, it is provided that the family judge can, if necessary, carry out a forced partial transfer of parental authority in the specific case of exercising image rights.”

The bill still has to pass the French Senate and be promulgated by the President before it comes into force.