Sharenting – An Emerging Evil

Sudipti Mukhopadhyay, B.COM LL.B. (Hons.), St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with Sharenting, or the habit of oversharing by parents, which associates with itself the risk of handing their children in the face of various forms of danger. This has been an emerging issue since the pandemic, yet India does not have any specific law to safeguard a child in this regard. There is a high need to make laws in this regard in order to eliminate the evil of sharenting.

INTRODUCTION

Steven Leckart termed Sharenting in the early 2010s. It is defined as a parent’s use of social media to discuss their children’s lives by sharing text posts, photographs, and videos that convey personal information about their children.1 A US survey revealed that almost 92% of parents have their children’s presence in social media but are not well acquainted with social media, which increases the risk rate.2 By the time a child turns five, 973 images have been uploaded online on average, according to research conducted by Nominet in the UK in 2015. This translates to 195 photos shared by parents annually.3 A McA fee survey revealed that 40.5% of parents in India (mainly from Mumbai) post an image or video of their child at least once a day on social media, while 36% post their child's picture once a week. 55% among them are on private accounts, and 42% are on public accounts.