Blake Lively slams Instagram account for posting "disturbing" photos of her children

As a celebrity, Blake Lively has to make extra efforts to protect the privacy of her children.

When an Instagram account posted unauthorized paparazzi photos of her, Ryan Reynolds, and their children, Lively was not going to stand for it and made her position clear in the comments.

"This is so disturbing," she wrote (via People (opens in new tab)).

"I have personally informed you that these men are stalking and harassing my children. You are still posting. You said you would stop. You promised me personally. This is not a casual thank you. You are also exploiting young children. Please. Please remove it. Please. Some parents are fine with this. We are. We are. No."

Lively's comments fell on deaf ears and the account quickly deleted the post. The actress later wrote on Stories, "Thank you to everyone who doesn't follow child exploitation accounts. We couldn't have done it without you guys. I appreciate your integrity. Thank you."

Lively and Reynolds never shared any photos of the children on social media, and the decision of whether or not to expose their faces is entirely up to the children themselves.

They are not the only two celebrity parents who do their best to protect their children from the limelight. Gigi Hadid, in particular, posts pictures (open in new tab) of little Kai online, but never shows her face. Mindy Kaling takes a similar approach with her own children (opens in new tab). On the flip side, celebrities like the Kardashian family (open in new tab) and Chrissy Teigen (open in new tab) regularly publish photos of their children. There is nothing wrong with either approach; it is a matter of personal preference. Nevertheless, it is never acceptable for photographers to "stalk" young children and take pictures of them without their permission.