War on ‘sharenting’ photos

PARENTS should stop posting pictures of their children on social media, Dame Sally warned.

The Chief Medical Doctor, said adults guilty of so-called ‘sharenting’ should ‘never assume’ children have consented to having photos of them uploaded to social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram.

Dame Sally said: ‘Parents and carers should never assume that children are happy for their photos to be shared. For everyone – when in doubt, don’t upload!’

The advice comes after the Children’s Commissioner last year reported youngsters aged eight to 12 are worried about people laughing at them because of pictures their parents have posted, but many feel powerless to stop them.

A report by Ofcom found four in ten parents regularly upload such photos to social media.