France's national police has warned parents of the repercussions of posting their children's photos on Facebook.

According to authorities, publicizing snapshots of kids can attract sexual predators. Plus, the act could also damage the children's social and psychological health later on in life, the Verge reported.

The news outlet wrote that parents who upload photos of their children on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram could be sued by their sons or daughters in the future in accordance with France's privacy laws.

If convicted, parents could be sentenced to a year in prison and a fine of £45,000 for sharing the private lives of their kids without their consent, French internet law expert Éric Delcroix said in an interview with France's newspaper Le Figaro, as translated by the Verge.

"If, in a few years, the children feel they are victims of infringement of privacy by their own parents, they may demand restitution," Delcroix told Le Figaro, as reported by Digital Trends. "Teenagers are often criticized for their Internet behavior, but parents are no better."

France, Germany Taking Action

In a Facebook post last month, France's national gendarmerie warned the dangers of the new viral campaign called "Motherhood Challenge," which pushes users to share pictures of themselves with their children.

"Protect your children! You can all be proud moms and dads to your magnificent children, but be careful," the gendarmerie wrote on Facebook. "We remind you that posting photos of your kids to Facebook is not without danger!"

[PRéVENTION] Préservez vos enfants !Si vous avez suivi Facebook, une chaîne de publication est à la mode en ce moment...

Posted by Gendarmerie nationale on Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Viviane Gelles, an attorney specializing in Internet law, said that under Article 9 of the Civil Code, parents are both responsible for the safety of their children's images, Digital Trends reported. Even if the father and mother are separated, they must check in with each other before posting a photo of their child on social media. If not, one parent could sue the other.

France isn't the first country to address the issue. In October 2015, Germany also warned parents that photographs of their children on the Internet could be used by pedophiles, BBC reported. German authorities advised parents to adjust their privacy setting so that only their Facebook friends can view the images.

Facebook's Defense

Facebook is taking steps to protect children's privacy, the Verge noted. In a conference in London in Nov. 2015, Facebook's VP of Engineering Jay Parikh said that in the future, a warning will alert parents that the photos they're sharing would be viewed by the general public. With this, parents are urged to second-guess themselves before posting the images.