The parents must jointly agree to the publication of photos of their children. This was determined by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf in a recently published decision (Ref.: II-1 UF 74/21, 1 UF 74/21).
What had happened? The father’s new partner had posted photos of his children. She wanted to advertise her business on social networks and on her website. The father agreed to the children’s photos, but the mother, who was separated from him, did not. She demanded the deletion of the children’s photos from the internet. However, the partner did not comply. On the contrary, she even posted more photos on her social media channels.
The mother went to court against this and was proven right. The judges argued that posting children’s photos on social media (in this case Instagram and Facebook) has effects on the child’s development that are difficult to change. The photos were accessible to a wide public and their dissemination was therefore hardly controllable.
The OLG Oldenburg had already argued similarly three years earlier (OLG Oldenburg, decision of 24.05.2018 – 13 W 10/18). It also spoke of a “matter of considerable importance”. In contrast to the decision of the OLG Düsseldorf, however, it was of the opinion that both parents must consent to court proceedings directed against it. The consent of one parent can at most be replaced by a family court.
