Lead
Posting a photo of your child on social media is something almost every parent has considered. The motivation is honest: sharing a child's growth with family, keeping a record of something wonderful. There is nothing to reproach in that impulse.
But alongside it, a quieter question tends to surface: What will this child think when they find this photo in fifteen years? The child cannot yet grasp the concept of consent, and yet the digital footprint is being laid down now, in their name.
Sharenting — the practice of parents sharing their children's images, information, and daily life on social media — has spread widely over the past decade. A growing body of research is beginning to examine the legal and ethical dimensions embedded in that practice.