By RISAKO MIYAKE/ Staff Writer
January 15, 2025 at 17:25 JST
All around the world, parents have boasted about the accomplishments, growth and “cuteness” of their young children on social media.
But an awareness is spreading in Japan that posting pictures of the youngsters could run against their wishes and even lead to legal problems down the road.
“I’m not posting photos that show my child’s face,” a post on an Instagram account called “Suzu Papa” said in May 2024.
A home economics teacher opened the account after the birth of his daughter. He said he wanted to record his child-rearing experiences and provide useful information to viewers.
The account has proved popular among other young parents and gained more than 39,000 followers.
However, he said, from the beginning, that he would post photos that showed his daughter’s face for only a limited time.
When his daughter reached her third birthday, he decided it was time to keep her face off the account.
“I felt it would be unethical to post (her) photos without (her) permission,” he said.
He also said he thought that the risk of “unauthorized use” of her image would increase as the girl got older.
Such concerns were raised overseas when people took a good look at possible long-term ramifications of “sharenting,” a term coined from the words “sharing” and “parenting” for the act of posting images on social media of children as they grow up.
A South Korean children’s literature author published a book, “I accuse my mom who is an influencer,” in 2021 based on her own experience of raising a child.
The book was translated into Japanese in 2023.
Its protagonist is a fifth-grade elementary school pupil. Her mother, an influencer with 200,000 followers, has been posting updates about the daughter's growth on social media.
The girl attracts a lot of attention at school because of her mother’s online presence.
But the daughter has mixed feelings because her classmates will take pictures of her without her permission. And her mother sometimes shares embarrassing photos that anyone can see online.
One day, the girl decides to express her honest feelings to her mother after hearing a comment from a classmate.
The author said she herself used to post pictures of her daughter on social media.
When the daughter was in the fifth grade of elementary school, she begged the mother, “I don’t want pictures showing my face to be posted.”
The author said she uploaded the pictures because the girl was “so cute.” But the mother did not know until that moment that “my daughter might not like it.”
She said the word “accuse” in the book title may seem strong, but she chose it to “warn people” who were unaware that their uploaded photos could be misused.
In France, a law was enacted in February 2024 to protect the portrait rights of children.
The law stipulates that both parents shall jointly exercise portrait rights in accordance with the age and developmental level of their children.
If the parents disagree over the publication of a child’s photograph, a judge can prohibit publication if one parent files a lawsuit.
The law also allows relatives to file a lawsuit for transfer of parental rights if the child’s dignity is violated by the parents’ publication of photos.
Yohei Shimizu, a lawyer specializing in internet issues, said there is a possibility also in Japan that a child could claim later in life that a photo was posted against his or her will.
There have also been cases in which photos of kindergarteners uploaded to their schools’ websites have been misused for child pornography by generative AI, Shimizu said.
“The best way to prevent misuse is not to post photos,” he said. “But if you do post photos, you can make your account private or hide (the child’s) face with a mosaic or other means.”
Even when sharing photos online with family members and friends, Shimizu said, it is important to exchange information about the risks involved and to reach an agreement on how to handle the images.
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