A Dignity-Based Approach to Children’s Cybersecurity: A Criminal Analysis

Purpose: With the development of social media, various forms of cyberbullying have emerged. One of them is parental trolling, which involves parents publishing photos online that ridicule, humiliate their children or insult their dignity. This is done at the expense of the subjectivity of the minor, most often unaware of the consequences of such publication and acting in trust of the parent, whose statutory task is to protect the child from violence. Design/Methodology/Approach: In this article, we take note that, criminal law does not regulate and protect the principle of the child's welfare. Findings: Today we are witnessing brutal attackson child's privacy and dignity in the cybersphere. The contexts in which the problem in question is studied and described refer to the category of “dignity,” thus turning us towards ethical sensitivity, morality and law. The arrangement of problems proposed here is one of many possible, nevertheless it expresses a certain methodological attitude and way of thinking about humans in general and the child in particular. Practical Implications: The purpose of this article is to analyse selected legal instruments designed to protect the child from parental trolling and to combat this phenomenon by criminalizing it. This publication uses legal acts, literature and jurisprudence, with the aim of developing changes in criminal legislation towards effective protection of children from such pathological phenomena. Originality/Value: The publication systematizes the most important issues of cybersecurity as the human security paradigm.