According to Codacons, it is illegal to publish images of newborns on social networks, especially if you are trying to earn money with the photos of your children
Stop the photos of your children on social networks and preventive seizure of all images depicting minors. But only for the children of VIPs. This is what the consumers' association Codacons asks for in an exposé to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Rome.
In the exposé, Codacons speaks of "contents that immortalize minors, even newborns, sometimes portrayed half-naked or in ambiguous and allusive poses or situations, with the result of transforming virtual spaces into a brothel in which children could become victims of the illicit processing of their personal data, as well as, even worse, of more serious offences". According to the association, therefore, parents would fail in their obligation to protect the rights of children in order to satisfy "exhibitionist or profit-making purposes".
Gaining money with the photos of their children
This last statement, that is the one that refers to profit, clearly explains who the adults to whom Codacons mainly refers are: VIPs, celebrities, influencers of various kinds who publish with increasing constancy the photos of their children and, in some cases, earn money by doing "product placement", that is indirect advertising. A recent case of this kind is the selfie of Chiara Ferragni with her son Leone: she is wearing sunglasses with the brand name clearly visible, the child is in a stroller made by a well-known Italian company.
Children at risk
There is another serious risk arising from the publication of photos of children on the Internet: pedophilia. It is not excluded, in fact, that some photos of boys and girls can be downloaded and placed in child pornography circuits. Especially those portraying very young children, who are often photographed with very little clothing or with only a diaper.
What does the law say?
Italian and international law does not provide a real ban on the publication of photos of minors on Facebook, Instagram, other social or on the Internet in general. A pronouncement of the Court of Mantua in 2017, for example, simply states that to publish photos of a child simply requires the consent of both parents. However, in the same pronouncement, the Court also states that one must be very careful about what one posts: "the insertion of photos of minors on social network constitutes potentially prejudicial behavior for them because this determines the diffusion of the images among an indeterminate number of persons, known and not, which can be ill-intentioned and approach the children after having seen them several times in photos online, not being able moreover to go unnoticed the further danger constituted by the conduct of subjects that tag the photos online of minors and, with procedures of photomontage, they draw child pornographic material to circulate among the interested ones".