Is it illegal to post pictures of foster children online in michigan?

[sabrina]

my sister is a foster mother to 2 children, and we had a birthday party for one of them last week. I took pictures of all the children at the party including my own eatting cake and ice cream, but my sister warned me not to post the pictures on facebook or myspace because it is illegal to post pictures of foster children online, can anyone tell me if this is true?

[JMc]

I am not sure about the legality, but for the safety of the kids, she has a point. Myspace and Facebook, like any social networking sites have security issues based on the choices of their users. Putting pictures of other people's children on the web puts their identities and their actual images at risk for abuse by child predators. Foster children are often being kept away from parents who are a danger to them due to either neglect or abuse. To post these children's pictures is to potentially expose them to the very people they are being rescued from. So regardless of its legality, the posting has safety and ethical issues.