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Posting kids’ pics on social media a risk to their safety
R Kavitha (name changed) was just three-years- old when her mother started uploading pictures of her online. “I was so delighted that my baby girl was growing up so fast and all my friends on Facebook found her adorable. I got carried away,” says Rani, her mother, a homemaker in the city.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Four years later, Rani was shocked when she read an article on the increasing instances of paedophilia in the country and pages on social media that had photoshopped pictures of young kids. “I initially didn’t think any of my daughter’s pictures would be posted on such platforms, as I had implemented some security settings that only my ‘Friends’ on FB could see them. I recalled that I’d shared some with public settings, as I’d entered the pictures in an online contest,” she admits.
To her horror, Kavitha (who is now in the third standard at a private school in the city) was one of the many little girls whose photos were shared on a page promoting paedophilia. “I was disgusted at the comments on the pictures. I should have been more vigilant. We filed a complaint with cyber security and the picture was taken down,” says the mother, who deleted all her social media accounts since.
“In countries like the USA and Europe, parents have understood what consent means after several such cases have led to kids being sexually exploited. There, children even file complaints on their parents/ guardians for sharing images of them without consent. But in India, that awareness is almost non-existent. Even worse, many don’t know how to use privacy properly,” says Vinod Kumar, a social media strategist in the city.
KEEP KIDS SAFE
- Across India, several new parents are discovering the joy of sharing their young kids’ pictures for the first time on social media platforms for validation from peers
- A survey by global cyber security firm McAfee titled ‘The Age of Consent’ reveals that 40.5% of parents in India upload a photo or video of their child at least once a day, with 36% posting a picture of their child once a week
- Paedophilia or morphed pictures isn’t the only concern. What’s disconcerting is that most parents don’t consider their child’s consent while sharing their images online
- Parents also post location updates or photos of kids in school uniforms, in turn, giving away the child’s location to a potential predator.
- In India awareness is almost non-existent. Many don’t even know how to use privacy properly.
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