Sharenting Risks and Harms: A Criminological Perspective

Sharenting is widely practised and has attracted significant media and academic attention. While the motives for sharenting are well researched, other aspects are less well understood. This chapter explores sharenting from a criminological perspective. It focuses on the criminogenic features and implications of sharenting practices, particularly the risks of cybersecurity and digital harms. We argue that it is important to move away from a focus on the sharenters who are constructed as scapegoats in the media and instead acknowledge that sharenters are embedded in socio-technical contexts. It is crucial to pay more attention to the social media platforms on which sharenting is taking place and how they are regulated. The chapter starts out with assessing the media representation of risks associated with sharenting from a criminological perspective. Subsequently, we turn to an overview over the types of crimes and social harms that are enabled by sharenting. We then discuss the affordances (According to Hutchby (Sociology, 35:441–456, 2001) affordances enable and constrain actions.) of social medial platforms and their regulations. Finally, we conclude the chapter with suggestions for the mitigation of risks caused by sharenting and further research needs.