The Role of Cancellation of the feature in Establishing Parental Legal Responsibility for Harms Resulting from Virtual Spaces

Parental responsibilities in upbringing children have led to their legal liabilities, and according to Article 7 of the Civil Liability Law enacted in 1960, parents are held responsible for any harm caused to children due to their negligence in the care and supervision. This responsibility encompasses both their actions and omissions. From a legal perspective, inadequate upbringing of a child is considered as negligence and imposes liability on parents. According to Article 295 of the Islamic Penal Code, if someone fails to perform an act that they are obligated to do or abandons a specific duty that they are responsible for, and as a result, a crime is committed, they can be held accountable for intentional, quasi-intentional, or pure negligence. On the other hand, by waiving privacy in the physical realm, all regulations that apply to negligence and abandonment of parental duties in the physical space are also applicable to the virtual space. Regarding the enforcement of these laws, except for the deprivation of custody rights in cases of abandonment, there is no specific provision for parental negligence, despite the existence of guardianship responsibilities and obligations, both in the continuity of life and in separation. The omission of legal measures for parental negligence, including the omission of actions in the virtual space such as abandoning a child, has not been adequately addressed. This article, relying on the principles of Imamite jurisprudence and the legal system of Iran, aims to prove parental legal responsibility for the harms caused by virtual spaces in the upbringing of children and emphasizes the necessity of public education.