News outlets have a history of caution when it comes to depicting children. But a new wave of stories about risque costumes posted by parents on social media have thrown up different approaches.

This week, a young boy dressed as Ben Cousins had a parent dab white flour on his nose to represent the footballer’s drug use. The Daily Mail decided not to blur the photo, which is still available on social media. Yahoo7, meanwhile, had the unidentified child’s face blurred.

It follows last week’s widespread reporting of another child dressed up in brown-face to better represent Fijian West Coast Eagles star Nic Naitanui. That image was mostly pixellated, apart from on the Huffington Post, which choose instead to crop the image below the eyes.

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