The practice – known as “sharenting” – has become widespread as parents document their children’s lives on social media.
But academics at the University of Southampton have warned it could have serious unintended consequences, with findings indicating that such sharing increases the risk of children becoming victims of cybercrime.
Rani Govender, the NSPCC’s online child safety policy manager, told the BBC: “These findings highlight the serious risks which children can face when photos and videos of them are shared widely on social media.
“Sharing photos or videos of children at scale across the online world can put their safety, privacy and wellbeing at risk.”
Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 parents across the UK and conducted follow-up interviews.
They found 45 percent of parents said they regularly posted pictures of their children, while one in six reported that their child had already suffered harm as a result.
Pamela Ugwudike, the lead researcher for the report, said: “Sharenting poses a real and present danger to our children.
“By proudly sharing photos and information about children on social media, parents are unwittingly putting them at risk of harm, both online such as cyberbullying, and in the real world – not just now, but also years down the line.”
She added details revealed in such posts – including birthdays, addresses or pet names – could later be exploited for identity fraud.
Ms Ugwudike also warned strangers could use information from posts to contact children both online and offline.
Sharenting has sparked debate before.
In 2019, Gwyneth Paltrow posted a photograph on Instagram with her daughter Apple Martin.
Apple responded that she had not given permission for the image to be shared, highlighting tensions around privacy.
The Southampton study found many parents, carers, relatives and schools were unaware of how privacy settings on social media platforms could be bypassed.
Rani Govender said: “This research shows parents overestimate the protection offered by privacy settings. Features like tagging and resharing can bypass these protections, allowing content to spread beyond the intended audience even from ‘private’ accounts.”
The Internet Watch Foundation has also raised concerns.
Kerry Smith, the IWF’s head, said: “We have seen criminals in the darkest parts of the internet boasting that they can use AI image generators to create life-like nude and sexual imagery of any child they like with only a handful of normal, non-sexual images.”
Smith added artificial intelligence tools posed new threats, including the potential for “sexual extortion” if such images were misused.
She said: “AI imagery of children can now be so realistic, it is indistinguishable from real imagery.”
