Lorraine Williamson
A family photo can feel harmless. It’s a moment of pride, a quick share, a little connection. But Spain is moving towards a tougher approach to children’s visibility online, driven by a growing sense that what seems innocent now can leave a digital trail that lasts for years.
The Ministry of Youth and Children is preparing a new legal framework aimed at the overexposure of minors on social media, commonly known as “sharenting”. The government says it wants the proposal ready in the first quarter of 2026, after a public consultation that drew more than 1,200 submissions.
Why Spain is stepping in now
The anxiety behind the draft law is simple: once a child’s image is online, control is limited. Content can be copied, downloaded, reshared, and reused in contexts a family would never choose.
Cybersecurity specialists warn that the danger is not only in the most extreme scenarios, such as sexual exploitation networks or coercion. It is also the everyday risks: bullying fuelled by photos, embarrassment that follows a child into adolescence, or identifying details that reveal routines, schools, and locations.
Spain’s data protection authority has repeatedly underlined the same principle: parents have a duty to protect a child’s image and privacy, rather than a free hand to publish it.
What the draft law is expected to focus on
According to reporting in Spain, the government’s approach is built around three themes.
One is education. The ministry wants clearer guidance for families, because many parents share without thinking about how quickly content can spread, or how difficult it is to remove.
Another is platform responsibility. The direction of travel is that social media companies should carry more of the burden, rather than placing it all on parents and children.
The third area is commercial use. That includes content where a child’s image is part of a monetised brand, campaign, or influencer business model.
What the law already says in practice
Spain does not yet have a single, specific “sharenting law”. But children are already protected by broader rights to honour, privacy, and their own image, as well as the wider framework designed to safeguard minors.
A key point is consent. In Spain, a minor can exercise image rights directly from the age of 14. Before that, parents decide, but the child’s rights still exist and must be protected.
The hardest part: drawing a line in family life
Even supporters of regulation admit that enforcement will be difficult. Sharenting ranges from the occasional private update to highly curated public diaries. Disputes also arise between separated parents, and courts have tended to favour stricter limits, pushing sharing into closed circles rather than public feeds.
That is why several voices in the debate say culture may matter as much as legislation. If families shift towards a “share less, share safer” mindset, the biggest harms fall away before the courts or platforms ever get involved.
What parents can do immediately
If you post, reduce the detail around the child. Avoid school names, clubs, uniforms, and anything that points to routine or location. Keep profiles closed where possible, be selective about followers, and think twice before sharing images that could be humiliating later.
And ask your child first, even when they are younger. It won’t solve everything, but it builds a habit of consent in a world that often ignores it.
Where this is heading
Spain is signalling that children’s digital identity is not just a parenting choice. It is a rights issue, and one that the state is increasingly willing to define in law.
The question now is how far the final text will go, and whether it can protect children without turning ordinary family life into a legal minefield. Either way, the era of “it’s just a photo” is ending.