The era of social networks also affects teachers. If some post videos of their classes hiding the faces of their students, others do not deprive themselves of it and flood Instagram or even Tik Tok with their classes. But do they have the right?
Teachers have learned to use social media well for a few years now. When it is not on Twitter to denounce the policies of their ministry under the hashtags #Stylorouge or #pasdevague, some surf on Instagram or Tik Tok and publish videos and images of their classes and their students. While many of them retain the anonymity of these minors, others do not deprive themselves of it. But, do they have the legal right to film these students and post the images on their social networks?
I have just come across a bunch of Tik Tok videos with personal accounts of teachers who film their students in class or in the establishment, so sorry to break the atmosphere but beware there, legally speaking, it is problematic, they are minors …
— Marie-Laure GB (@MarieLaureGB) October 9, 2021
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According to the law, it is advisable before taking pictures of pupils to obtain the written authorization of these persons and that of the two legal persons in charge in the case of minor pupils.
The converse is true: it is forbidden for pupils to photograph, record or film a teacher and to disseminate these images without his authorization. This ban also applies to publications on social networks.
An authorization must be formulated each time
We do not collect, moreover, the general authorization to take pictures or to film the pupils in any place or in all circumstances: the form must specify what is the project, the dates, the places, what is the publication medium. , the length of the conversation. In addition, when an image rights form is signed within a school (website, press visit, etc.), the authorization is signed under the responsibility of the establishment and not for private accounts of professors.
On the other hand, the blurring of faces, if it makes it possible to not recognize a person (student or adult), makes it possible to publish a photo without the authorization of the persons concerned. Attention, the framework, the context, the situation, must not allow to deduce the identity of the persons.
Thus, if the publication of videos of students by their teachers on social networks is not totally prohibited, it is still subject to many rules and conditions. In fact, currently, many of these images on Tik Tok or Instagram can quickly border on illegality.
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