互联网不是你的个人相册：保护儿童照片免遭滥用

Babies and toddlers are the most wonderful creatures.

Chubby, soft, cute and without any of the self-consciousness or inhibitions which will one day turn them into sulky teenagers.

So as they explore the world and go on their own little journey of self-discovery they provide parents with endless moments of joy which are perfect for the family album.

But now we are in the 21st century, there is no such thing as the family album.

Photographs rarely make it from camera phone to a physical photograph.

Instead the photo album is Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. With one click of the mouse the adorable picture of your toddler playing in the sand pit for the first time, splashing in the paddling pool, or digging in the soil can be shared with the world in an instant.

Which is exactly what proud mum Courtney Adamo did when she captured the moment her wellie-wearing daughter Marlow lifted up her dress to reveal her gorgeous little pot belly.

Yet just 24-hours later the mum-of-four found that the image had been deleted and her Instagram account shut down as the picture had breached the site's decency rules.

What is the world coming to when a mum can't share a completely innocent picture of her beautiful baby?

Little Marlow wasn't revealing anything other than her perfect belly and her chubby little legs.

Yet it is seemingly fine for celebrities like Rihanna to post suggestive virtually naked pictures of themselves on the site.

Instagram argues that they have to have policies in place to protect young children , but admits that in this case they got it wrong.

Now we all know that the Internet can be a dangerous place. But why should a minority of perverted individuals ruin the fun for the rest of us?

But on the other hand, should we as parents think twice before posting pictures of our kids online?

Somewhere in my mum's attic is an album filled with pictures from family holidays gone by, my sister and I playing happily in the garden in just our bikini bottoms.

All innocent fun, even more so as the only people who are ever likely to see those pictures are family.

Would I share pictures of my half-naked children online? Probably not.

While I agree that the picture of Marlow bearing her belly was totally adorable and Instagram were wrong to take it down, I do think that we as parents have a responsibility to recognise that the Internet is not a family album.

Only ever post words or pictures online that you are happy for the whole world to see – perverts and all – as that is exactly who can and will see them.

婴儿和幼儿是最奇妙的生物。

胖乎乎的，柔软的，可爱的，没有任何会使他们变成忧郁青少年的自我意识或抑制力。

所以当他们去探索世界，踏上自我发现的小小旅程时，给父母带来了无尽的欢乐，为家庭相册添上了完美的一笔。

但现在我们处于第二十一世纪，家庭相册这种东西已不复存在。

手机相机里的照片很少会变成实物照片。

取代相册的是facebook，Instagram和推特。你的孩子玩第一次沙子坑，在水池边嬉戏，或在土中挖掘的可爱照片，只要鼠标点击一下，就可以在瞬间与世界分享。

这正是骄傲的妈妈考特尼·阿德姆所做的事，她抓拍了她穿着长筒靴的女儿马洛掀起裙子露出可爱的小肚子的照片并上传到Instagram。

然而，仅仅24小时后这位4岁孩子的妈妈发现图片被删除了，她的Instagram账号因照片违反网站规则被关闭。

这世界变成了什么样子，一个妈妈竟然不能共享她漂亮的孩子天真无邪的可爱照片？

除了她可爱的肚子，胖乎乎的小腿，小马洛没有暴露任何其他部分。

然而，像蕾哈娜这样的名人上传自己的裸体照似乎却是可以接受的。

Instagram认为，他们必须有保护儿童的政策，但也承认，这次他们有点过火。

现在我们都知道互联网可能是一个危险的地方。但是为什么让少数变态的人毁了我们其余人的乐趣？

不过另一方面，我们作为父母，是否应该在网上发布孩子照片前三思呢？

在我妈妈的阁楼里有一本相册，放满了一张张家庭度假的照片，妹妹和我穿着比基尼在花园里玩得很高兴。

所有天真无邪的乐趣，想看到那些照片的只有家人。

我会在网上分享我孩子的半裸图片吗？很可能不会。

虽然我同意马洛露出腹部的照片是十分可爱的，但这和Instagram的网站规制有冲突，我真的认为我们作为父母有责任意识到互联网不是一个家庭相册。

请你只在网上上传那些你愿意让全世界的人看到的文字或图片，包括变态的人和正常人，因为他们都能看得到。