A recent study by the French organization Fondation pour l’Enfance has revealed that 50 percent of photos and videos of children circulating in child-pornography forums originate from material initially posted by parents on social media. The alarming finding has renewed global concern about the online exposure of minors.
At the end of November, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) released a powerful advert as part of its national campaign “Stop Before You Post”, designed to warn parents about the hidden risks behind seemingly harmless posts about their children. The video rapidly went viral across platforms.
The advert highlights the dangers of so-called “sharenting”—the widespread practice of parents sharing personal details, photos and videos of their children online, including names, birthdays, school locations, sports activities and even their friends’ names.
In the video, a young girl named Éabha visits a shopping center with her parents. A stranger approaches her and greets her by name. When her mother asks whether she knows him, Éabha nervously shakes her head. Moments later, a woman she has never met wishes her a happy 8th birthday, and another man comments on her sports training schedule, even mentioning that her father “often arrives late to pick her up.”
The tension escalates when a stranger downloads Éabha’s photos directly from her father’s social-media posts. The parents and the child are shown visibly shaken, realizing how much personal information complete strangers can access with ease.
The DPC’s final message appears on screen: “Every time you share your child’s life online, you risk sharing their personal data with the world. Stop before you post.”
The ad has been viewed more than 12,000 times on YouTube, while on Instagram it has reached over 1 million likes and more than 4,500 comments. Users praise the campaign as a wake-up call on digital privacy.
“This advert is sparking an important family conversation about privacy,” one comment read. Others called it “the best awareness campaign” they had seen, while some expressed relief that they had never posted identifiable photos of their children. Several criticized social-media influencers who regularly feature their children as “content.”
Child-protection experts have echoed the concerns. Mick Moran, European specialist in child-sexual-abuse material and CEO of Hotline.ie, said parents must exercise extreme caution when posting online. “We do not know how this content may be used later,” he warned, noting that material can be misused for anything—from sexual exploitation to identity fraud.
The Irish Data Protection Commission further notes that online posts by parents can lead to school bullying, long-term privacy violations, and even future professional harm for the children involved.
