Reasons NOT to Post Images or Videos of Children on the Internet
- Jul 24
- 14 min read
Updated: Jul 29
The internet, social media and the concept of posting photos online has been around for quite a long time now. When people started doing this 30 years ago (approximately), it likely seemed innocent and fun and completely void of any possible wrong doing. However, we now know (or should know) that posting videos or photos of children on the internet is quite dangerous and carries enormous risks and should be avoided: we will discuss these reasons in detail below. Even so, the practice of putting children's faces on the internet for anyone and everyone to access happens so freely (despite the mounting evidence of harm) that we felt it necessary to write this article. Don't do it!
As parents, we want our family to be safe from predators, harmful influences and any dangerous situations, and this includes internet safety as well. We implore you to think before you post anything; however, more importantly we invite you to protect your children's privacy, dignity and respect by refraining from posting videos and photos of them online.
We as a society, need to agree upon etiquette about online photo sharing
Sharing photos of your children is not illegal.
However, it should be equivalent to allowing your minor child to ride an E bike at 20 MPH without a helmet. Posting photos of other people's children without parental permission should absolutely be taboo.
Most people agree that guests should not wear a white dress to a wedding. It is rude to decline to tip a server at a sit down restaurant and you should absolutely put your shopping cart in the carrell when you are finished loading purchases into your vehicle. The same is true for online photo sharing. We need to have a shared idea about what is right and wrong when sharing photos online, especially photos of children; what is the faux pas? Where the boundary?
Currently, I can agree to disagree with your practice to overshare online including sharing photos of your children. However, when I am out with you at the park and you take a photo of our kids playing together using your smartphone connected to wifi, can I trust and assume that you will will keep that photo for your family's personal use and memories only and that you wont share it on a facebook group with 5000+ people?
If you take a photo of your child at the park and my child is in the background, would you crop my child out of the photo or blur out my child's face before you post it? Or would you post it anyway - a strangers child on the world wide web without their knowledge or permission?
This includes sharing via text messaging as well. If you share a photo of our kids playing together with your child's Grandmother, will the grandmother keep it to herself or will she spread it around the internet?
Because you cannot 100% trust that I will keep your child's privacy.
Think before you post.
We have outlined several things you should know before you share a photo of a child online.
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Photos and Videos are Forever
Even after they are deleted, they can be saved on someone's phone, a server or copied and posed one another creators video.
I remember reading an article years ago about the sharing photos of children on the internet and there was a point they made that will forever be in my mind. It was that these children may be future judges, politicians, or public figures. Your child may someday be the President or Vice President of the United States: do you really want an embarrassing, silly, or less-than-professional photo of them floating out around the internet somewhere?
They do not need their childhood bath photos all over the internet of them when they were young. Some of you can relate to this. I recently came across old, embarrassing photos online (unintentionally) of a political figure that people are trying to make go viral and they are embarrassing! Do not do this to your child!
Do you remember the internet lightsaber kid? Yes, that video is still on Youtube nineteen years later. And even now Ghyslain Raza still feels the harm he endured to his reputation and self-confidence from that video (see link). And we pity "Ryan" from the Youtube channel "Ryan's Toy Review": 50 years from now, it's likely that the only thing that will be remembered of Ryan is his toys and the stupid videos he and his parents mde. Will he ever become President of the United States, CEO of a fortune 500 company, or a senator/elected representative? Probably not, because in the minds of millions he's just that kid that made toy reviews.
People loose their jobs for posting photos online
Often, candidates will sign an NDA (Non- Disclosure Agreement). A non-disclosure agreement is an agreement that most companies (technology and others) require employees to sign as a condition of employment. In general, they stipulate that the employee must maintain the confidentiality of confidential and proprietary information of the company. This includes photos.
The entertainment industry understands the value of protecting children's privacy
Have you ever noticed that you never see photos of celebrities' kids in magazines like "People"? That is because there is an unwritten rule that children are off limits. Paparazzi and the entertainment industry know to protect the privacy and dignity of children who did not ask to be in the lime light. Would you give your children the same privacy protection?
Micael Jackson protected his children's identities! Click to see this video of Paris Jackson talking about how she appreciated that her father made them wear masks in public when they were young.
Whenever there is news story involving a minor, they blur out children's faces. Unless the child has passed, any other children in photos of videos are blurred out. Juveniles who are convicted of crimes are also protected. Unless it is a special case, a minor criminal's name and/ or photo is often not shared with the public.
Check out this story of a 12 year old threatening a school. Notice the lengths the reporter went to conceal his privacy.
This 13 year old killed his neighbor. His face and name are not included in the story.
Teen accused of killing 15-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother in Baltimore The news outlet released this criminals name, but no photo.
People can steal your children's photo and do with them what they please
When you are sharing seemingly innocent photos of your family vacation online, it is very easy for others to copy, save or use your "content" as their own, sometimes for sin or monetary reasons. More so, online content is regularly harvested for commercial usage. The cutest photos of your kids may become a permanent fixture of Microsoft's clip art library.
Think about a media service like "Shutterfly". Creators will publish photos of different things, including photos of children for use for a project. The provider and the service each get a financial gain when people use their media. This is not the case when people post, share and use photos and videos online through social media or other outlets. You are basically giving everyone consent to use your photos whenever they want for whatever they want to alter and send to whoever they want. Do you really want a cute picture of your child to become part of Shutterfly's library of stock photos?
Then can make a meme using it. We all use and enjoy memes and you might have created a few yourself. However, every photo on the internet started out as someone's cute photo of their child. Think about the kid with the fist of sand on the beach. If the parents knew that their little boy would be plastered all over the internet with no compensation for everyone's viewing pleasure, fun and public domain, do you think they would have posted it in the first place?
There is common problem in the world of online channels and creators. Their content gets stolen often and whole video channels get copied. People can use your photos and videos to make money and fame. Creators regularly make content where they "react" to someone else's video. There is nothing stopping them from doing this. There are no laws in place for monetizing off your "product", in fact they are probably encouraged to do it since they benefit from the "free" media they do not have to produce. Do not give people this power.
You might think that your photos are safe. You have strict privacy settings on your Facebook and instagram for example and are under the illusion that your content is secure. These privacy settings do not limit your content from being used and sold by social media companies (in fact, the opposite is true): they only limit your privacy from others. Are you 100% certain that everyone who follows you will not take those photos and do harm with them? Would any of your followers share them to another group? Because you are still putting your family at risk by oversharing and posting photos of your children on the internet!
AI Deep Fakes
AI is being used to alter photos: such tools are free and easy to use. This is not news: everyone knows it. You can easily photoshop or use AI to change photos how you please. What is alarming is that people have the ability to change children's photos to make them pornographic.
Sometimes, people are monetizing off children
Family vloggers have become our worlds new reality show like the "Keeping up with the Kardatians" and "19 Kids and Counting". However, it is exploitive to post your children online when they do not know what they are doing -- even if it is legal to do so. They are not earning any kind of financial cut from views or for participating the same way a child actor would.
The Dionne quintuplets were famoulsy born in 1934. Their parents' created a tourist attraction called "Quintland" where people could pay to view them and watch them through a one way mirror like animals at the zoo. This story sounds extreme and would not happen in modern times. Would it? Because many reality shows and vloggers do similar activities, showing the entire world their tantrums, opening birthday gifts, enjoying the day at the beach etc while the parents get attention, fame and monetary compensation for their photos and videos.
Maybe you are not monetizing your child's photos, but maybe it's just for attention and fame. For example, I follow someone on social media because I like her content. She will post photos of her family online sometimes and will also include her grandchildren. The comments and "likes" reacting to the toddler photos are expected. It is almost like the children are treated like "mascots" in the adults life free to share with the world for personal gain.
Small business and third parties
Small businesses and third parties share photos of children often as a marketing strategy and this practice needs to be stopped. For example, my children attend an art class on occasion and the studio will often post photos on their business social media page of children doing art projects.
There are a few problems with this situation. Most businesses would be obligated to pay children and adults compensation to be in their "commercial". It is exploitive to use children in this way. People do not always have a choice whether to be in the photos or not if they want to use the service. There are many other ways to advertise your business without resorting to posting children's faces online including taking photos of their backs, hands, or just the project.
As customers we should be supporting small business and nonprofits but we need to enforce that businesses should not be freely using children to make money. Businesses and third parties should be encouraged to find creative ways to advertise their service or program while also protecting children's faces.
There is no way to avoid seeing children on the internet
My family does not post photos online and we obviously feel strongly about children's safety online. So, we also avoid looking at children online when possible; we do not follow "family" vloggers, digital creators where children are part of the content and we do not "friend" people online.
However, seeing photos of other people's children is unavoidable due to everyone else's digital ignorance and the way the internet and these apps are set up. You are not allowed to disengage in viewing someone else's children. As a social media user posting online, you may be unknowingly showing other people photos of your children who you have given consent. Here are some examples.
We live in world of algorithms, spam, popups and ads where social media and other apps feed you photos and media things that you do not subscribe to. These are photos and media you did not ask to see or choose to view! How many times have you scrolled and saw a creator or video you are not subscribe to? Sometimes it can be fun to learn about a new food vlogger or another content creator sharing an interesting product. You might like their content enough that you might decide to start following them on social media. However, sometimes it is of children and you do not get a say in viewing it or not.
I follow content creators online because I like their skits, recipes, political commentary, encouragement or other content. Sometimes they will include photos or videos of their children. Why do they do this when their content has nothing to do with their kids? They do not need to share their family vacation photos with the entire world!
I also follow certain facebooks groups like parent groups, small business groups and neighborhood groups. Members frequently post photos of their children on them! They all have thousands of members! One group I follow for example has 246.5K members and people share photos of their children on it often. Why? You don't know who is in the group or what they might do with the photo. Many groups are also semi- public and will allow non members to view the groups content as well. You can 100% convey your question or message without including a child's photo in it.
You are doxing yourself
"Doxing" refers to someone sharing the home address of someone else, usually a public figure to invite and encourage harm towards that individual from the general public. Think about your favorite celebrity or politician and the ways they ensure their family is safe. Think about the security features in their homes, the security cameras and the security detail they employ to help keep their family safe from any crazy person real or imagined looking to bring harm against them.
Security cameras are not new. What is fairly recent is the inexpensive cost and how easily they are to purchase and install for everyday Americans. It seems like everyone has a doorbell camera and/or an indoor camera keeping an eye on their property. People also protect their home by meeting in public whenever possible.
Why do people go through these efforts (financial or otherwise) to keep their home and family safe when they are openly sharing their location online via internet photos so freely? It is so easy to dox someone from a video or image with personal information: but it is equally as easy to remove personal information. Maybe people would not have to go through such security lengths if they did not share thier personal buisness and location with the enire planet Earth.
The sex offender map
This map was created to allow citizens to be aware of any registered sex offender around your home (or other locations). It allows for sex offenders to do their time and re-assimilate back into citizen life, however they are forever marked and their status of having this specific crime history must be shared with the public using this map.
We believe that although this map is helpful, it does not show all crime offenders however dangerous they are. Many crimes go undetected or unsolved "Nearly half of all murders in America go unsolved — leaving families without answers and communities without justice." https://coldcaseindex.com/#statistics You might also be living near someone who has not yet to committed a crime.
It is normal for American citizens to be wary of interacting with people they don't know when out and about because yes, you could be interacting with a predator or a criminal. However, would you allow them to see your photos online? Would you allow them to see videos of your children at the beach wearing swimsuits and splashing in the water? How about that new dance routine?
Why would you want to make it easy for criminals to find your children?
Sex offenders are usually not legally allowed to work around children, such as at a school or daycare. Why then would you allow them to "be around" your child via social media? Literally anyone can see your media. Would you openly show your children's photos to someone like Tanner Horner or Joshua Yanowitz?
Crimes of opportunity
You would never leave your laptop sitting on the seat of your car with the doors unlocked. Would you? Of course not! I recently read a social media post about someone who forgot their purchase in their shopping cart at the store and when they returned later to retrieve it, learned that it was not turned into customer service.
This is what we would call a crime of opportunity. Someone stole something that is not theirs mainly because the opportunity was there and it is extremely unlikely anyone would find them to prosecute them for their crime. The thief is likely not someone who would steal from a store. Stop giving people opportunities to prey on your family by giving them full access to your photos.
Posting and sharing videos and photos allows for counterfeit "relationships" with friends and family.
Why would you ever make an attempt to meetup for coffee, a playdate or a BBQ with friends and family if everyone can just "catch up" and interact online?
Your online facebook "friends" see your vacation photos, how your children dressed up for an event, your latest trip to the farm and new baby photos of your newest grandchild online. Long distance relationships aside, if your online friends have access to your whole life, what reason is there to actually meet-up in person when all of these things are available without putting in actual work of a relationship and having conversation and stories to share with people who you actually like and trust?
Moving forward
We would like to again implore you to think before you post. Consider going back in your posts and removing your child's photos online. In future posts you should blur, place a digital sticker on your child face or crop your children out of photos when sharing online. Have conversations with grandparents and family members about this and request that they also do not post photos of your children online.
Also, teach your children device and digital sharing etiquette. Are your teens taking photos of their classmates in school? Because possessing certain photos like ones in the locker room of minors under the age of 18 is a felony. Conversations around photo sharing, even among text messaging should be one of the very first things you should teach them when handing over a smart phone to them.
We teach our children appropriate content sharing boundaries. We keep devices put away when friends are over and do not use cameras when they are with friends. We teach them not to share a photo via text since they currently do not have the discernment to determine if it is safe to do so. We teach them that some people use photos for sin. We teach them not to take photos or video of other people unless it is at a birthday party or permission is granted for a specific reason. We teach them that photos are forever, even embarrassing ones.
