Freedom to Traumatize Children?: Unreasonable Publicity and Non-Celebrity Children’s Right to Privacy
Journal
American University Law Review Forum
Volume
74
Abstract
This Note examines the significant privacy risks faced by children of celebrities, referred to as “non-celebrity children,” who are often subjected to invasive scrutiny and exploitation by the media and paparazzi due to their parents’ fame. The publication of these children’s personal identifying information—such as their names, photographs, and other private details—without consent arguably constitutes unreasonable publicity, as it exposes non-celebrity children to harm without any justifiable public interest. The Note critiques the inadequacies of current U.S. privacy laws, which fail to sufficiently protect these vulnerable children from nonconsensual disclosure of their private information. It calls for extending legal protections, specifically the privacy-based tort of unreasonable publicity, to prevent the publication of non-celebrity children’s personal information while still allowing other types of publication, advocating for a balance between the freedom of the press and the right to privacy. This would allow the media to continue reporting on public figures while safeguarding the well-being of non-celebrity children, ultimately reducing children’s exposure to harmful paparazzi behaviors and the various harms posed by public exposure.
Repository Citation
Alexis Berg,
Freedom to Traumatize Children?: Unreasonable Publicity and Non-Celebrity Children’s Right to Privacy,
74
(2024).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/stusch_lawrev/45