Conflict of rights: social networks and privacy

In this virtual world we can often find people 'non grata' that, in the case of children, can face a conflict that exceeds them. This has been understood by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, which in a judgment has decided to make prevail the right of Guardianship over the right to privacy if parents have suspicions that their children are victims of harassment. In this way, parents will have control of the social networks their children use.

A) Yes, From now on, the parents can review the activity of their children if they have well-founded evidence that they are suffering from some kind of harassment. This jurisprudence takes place in the case of Abel R.M., a sexual harasser, who was accused of harassing several minors through the Internet. For several months, the defendant maintained contact with the minors despite knowing the age of the girls and even urged them to stay with him.


When the mother of one of the victims became aware of this harassment, she denounced Abel and provided as evidence the conversations of the accused and his daughter. The Audiencia of Tarragona found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison and ten years of probation. However, after the sentence the defendant filed an appeal because he understood that the evidence provided was of illicit origin and that obtaining it violated the minor's right to privacy.

Conflict of rights: between guardianship and privacy

In view of this appeal, the Supreme Court emphasized that, in fact, a minor under 15 years of age, in full use of her mental faculties, must authorize her parents or guardians to access the content of her activity on social networks. However, the High Court also pointed out that this privacy may cede "in the presence of other constitutionally protectable interests".


The ruling also indicates that in this case it was the mother who broke into her daughter's Facebook and not another individual. In this sense, the Supreme Court understands that the parent is the holder of parental authority, considered as a tuition function, that is, that protects and protects the minor. So in the fulfillment of this task, the mother acceded to the profile of her daughter before the clear symptoms that a criminal activity was taking place.

Advice on the proper use of social networks

To avoid generating situations like the ones in this case, it is convenient to teach our children how to manage their profiles on the Internet, since the absence of a father figure in this matter can cause the children to encounter a problem that may be They would not know how to react. It is therefore important to accompany our children when they start in the world of social networks to advise them and make them avoid many problems.


1. Do not provide too much information when creating a profile on social networks. In this way, it will be possible to prevent undesirable persons from knowing the address of our children or the telephone number. At the same time, it is advisable that the name they decide to use on the Internet does not include clues about their age or year of birth, as well as any other private data that may give clues.

2. Need to protect your profile on the internet so that nobody who is not known can access the user's content.

3. Selection of friends. In this sense, it is also advisable to recommend minors who are critical when admitting new friends in social networks so that nobody who is completely trustworthy can see their publications and avoid misuse of our children's online activity. .

4. Establish direct and open communication with minors about their use of social networks. In this way we can know if our children are victims of harassment on the web or if they have a problem that exceeds them.

5. Warn of the dangers. At the same time it is advisable to understand the danger of arranging a meeting with a person known in social networks as it could happen that the profile of this was false and whose intentions were not what he initially showed.

6. Place the computer in a place of common use inside the house. In this way we can check if our children are in trouble in addition to being close to advise on the use of the Internet when children are faced with a situation beyond their understanding. In this common space you can also create rules of use for social networks that will teach our children to use the Internet responsibly in case of absence of the father figure.

Damián Montero

It may interest you:

- Advantages and risks of social networks

- Parental control in social networks

- Facebook, the social network preferred by parents to talk about their children

- Social networks, 1 in 3 friends are unknown

Video: Conflict of interest: Digital privacy vs. national security


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