A legal perspective on trust, control and privacy in the context of sexting among children in Europe

ABSTRACT

Children are engaging with technology to establish and maintain intimate relationships and explore their sexual identity. Sexting is one of the ways in which this exploration occurs, often on a consensual basis. In a first stage, this article reflects on the concepts of trust, control and privacy as prerequisites to engage in sexting. In a second stage, the authors explore the extent to which legislative instruments enable the legitimate exploration and expression of one’s sexual identity, and aim to minimise adverse consequences thereof. To that end, the fundamental right to privacy, data protection frameworks and criminal legislation on the non-consensual dissemination of sexual images were identified as potentially harnessing the concepts of trust, control and privacy. Questions were examined regarding the potential undermining thereof through the application of child sexual abuse material legislation to instances of (consensual) sexting between children.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• adolescents
• trust
• control
• privacy
• sexting
• Lanzarote Convention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [FWO.OPR.2017.0024.01].

Notes on contributors

Argyro Chatzinikolaou

Argyro Chatzinikolaou is a doctoral researcher in the research group Law & Technology at Ghent University. She is working on the research project “Minors and online sexual acts: a study of legal qualifications and regulatory approaches from a children’s rights perspective” (FWO). Argyro is a member of the Human Rights Centre, PIXLES (Privacy, Information Exchange, Law Enforcement and Surveillance) and ANSER (Academic Network Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Policy). In addition, she is a regular contributor to the Strasbourg Observers blog.

Twitter: @IroCha9

Eva Lievens

Eva Lievens is an Assistant Professor of Law & Technology at Ghent University and a member of the Human Rights Centre, the Crime, Criminology & Criminal Policy Consortium, PIXLES and ANSER. A recurrent focus in her research relates to the legal impact of the design and deployment of technology in today’s society, human and children’s rights in the digital environment, and the use of alternative regulatory instruments, such as self- and co-regulation to regulate tech phenomena. At Ghent University, Eva teaches “European Media Law”, “European Law & ICT”, “Cybercrime, Technology & Surveillance”, and “Data Protection Law”.

Twitter: @evalieve