Everyone likes sharing photos on Facebook, but posting photos that you don’t own or includes other people comes with specific responsibilities both ethically and legally.

Copyright Infringement

Photos automatically belong to the person who took them. The photographer, not the camera owner owns the picture. If the photo you are using belongs to someone else, you may be committing copyright infringement if you upload it and share it without securing consent.

Privacy Violations

Posting photos without permission is a violation of their trust and may lead them to taking legal action against you. Do not post picture of children without their parent’s permission. Facebook has authority to remove photos that contain explicit content, hate speech, personal attacks or depictions of harm, violence or illegal drug use.

No Technical Restrictions

There are no restrictions from Facebook to stop you from uploading photos. Facebook does offer people the opportunity to remove objectionable photos after they have been posted by filing a copyright infringement claim or report abusive content.

Get Permission

You are not required to secure permission before posting a photo, but it is a good idea to ask permission from the other people appearing in the photo whenever a photo depicts someone in a potentially embarrassing or upsetting way. It is also a good way to ruin a good friendship.