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Zara Noor Abbas wants to keep pictures of her daughter, Noor-e-Jahan Siddiqui, private and doesn’t want others to post them either.

In an Instagram story, the actor said, “If I don’t show pictures of my daughter it means I would like to keep it private. Still, some people don’t have the audacity to respect this.”

Abbas requested that people stop posting videos of her child and delete those already uploaded to social media. The actor and her husband Asad Siddiqui welcomed Noor-e-Jahan on March 27, 2024.

Abbas is among the many celebrities who wish to keep their children’s photographs private, yet this request is often disregarded. And it’s not limited to celebs on this side of the border.

After Indian actor Alia Bhatt was secretly papped inside her house in 2023 and the photos were posted by ETimes, fellow actor Anushka Sharma shared that the same publication posted photos of her and Virat Kohli’s daughter, Vamika, without their consent even after the couple had repeatedly requested the media to not share their daughter’s photos.

Pakistani actors Yasir Hussain and Iqra Aziz also kept their son Kabir’s face hidden when posting pictures of him after he was born, and only recently revealed his face on their social media accounts. Hussain revealed the reason for all the secrecy in an Instagram post where he humorously said that even though he himself would have loved to post his son’s picture on social media, Kabir’s nani (grandmother) doesn’t approve.

American model Gigi Hadid had a completely different reason, and wished her daughter Khai had a life free from “the stress of the media circus that comes with parents who are public figures”. She has never publicly revealed her daughter’s face.

Karachi-based makeup artist Natasha Ali Lakhani always makes sure that pictures of her daughter’s face are covered with a sticker. “For all those that keep commenting on why I hide her face understand this, from nazar [evil eye], to security reasons to the fact that I am not comfortable sharing pictures of my child or any child on my very public 1 million plus social media platform,” Lakhani wrote on Instagram.

The instances are endless. Last year, Aiman Khan and her husband Muneeb Butt were secretly recorded by a fan while they were on a flight with their children. This sparked an online debate about filming people without their consent, especially young children who cannot consent to being posted on social media.

From Zara Noor Abbas to Gigi Hadid, it is necessary to respect the wishes of celebrities who do not wish to have their children photographed and plastered all over social media — whatever their reasoning might be. Infringing on underage children’s privacy is crossing limits in an effort to get a glimpse into someone’s personal life.

In a time where media consumption, bolstered by social media, is at an all-time high, it’s crucial to reconsider the line between public interest and personal invasion, and more importantly, to recognise that crossing that line has consequences.