Digital kidnapping is the theft of a minor's photos, posing as them, or posing as their parents. DK is commonly done to reveal private or sensitive information that negatively impacts the child's life, making it difficult to gain acceptance to college, or subjecting them to bullying. In rare cases, a kidnapper may assume the identity of a parent, making the impostor's followers believe that they are the child's parent. By posing as a peer or authority figure, adults may also gather information about minors, and use it in real world crimes, such as
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
.
Punishment
In the United States, the act of
reposting photos
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...
is legal, and does not lead to
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular a ...
. However the misappropriation of name or likeness is illegal, or can result in a
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
. In addition to this, it is illegal to publish private facts, such as addresses and birthdates, under the Publication of Private Facts law.
[{{Cite web, url=https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/publication-private-facts, title=Publication of Private Facts {{! Digital Media Law Project, website=www.dmlp.org, access-date=2020-03-06]
See also
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Sharenting
Sharenting is a portmanteau of "sharing" and "parenting" describing the practice of parents publicizing a large amount of potentially sensitive content about their children on internet platforms. While the term was coined as recently as 2010, shar ...
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Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...
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Social Media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
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Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
References
Security breaches
Fraud
Impostors
Deception