As one of the most famous men in the world, David Beckham is always going to face a certain amount of scrutiny over the images he shares on his Instagram feed.

With some 38 million followers (and counting), the former footballer gets hundreds of thousands of likes and comments on each snap he posts, with most of them starring members of his family, including wife Victoria and his children Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 14, Cruz, 12, and Harper, five.

However, one family photograph in particular managed to ruffle some feathers when it was posted last month, with fans taking to Beckham’s Instagram feed to slam him for being “inappropriate”.

The image in question was a snap of Beckham kissing his daughter Harper on the lips on a family holiday while the pair were on the beach (below), captioned with “Kiss for Daddy” and a heart emoji.

Despite garnering almost two million likes, the snap received a number of negative comments, with some of Beckham’s followers branding it “inappropriate” and calling him a “pervert”.

Speaking during a Facebook Live discussion yesterday, Beckham addressed the criticism and defended the photo, saying, “I got actually criticised for kissing my daughter on the lips the other day. I kiss all my kids on the lips.

“Brooklyn, maybe not. Brooklyn’s 18, he might find that a little bit strange. But I’m very affectionate with the kids.”

Read more: Victoria Beckham 'I kept my first date dress to give to Harper'

The 42-year-old went on to say that both he and Victoria were brought up with affection, and they wanted to show the same for their own children.

“It’s how I was brought up and Victoria, and it’s how we are with our children,” he said.

“We want to show our kids love and we protect them, look after them, and support them, and we’re very affectionate with them.”

Victoria herself also faced criticism last year when she posted a similar photo of herself kissing Harper on the lips (below), while the pair were in a swimming pool on a different family holiday.

“Happy Birthday baby girl,” she captioned the photo.

“We all love you so much X kisses from mummy X”

However, despite the criticism, both images were also flooded with positive comments from fans who saw nothing wrong with the family sharing kisses.

“It’s the most normal thing to love your child,” wrote one woman on David’s post.

“When did a father kissing his daughter become an issue?!! For anyone???” wrote another. “I swear the world is going insane!!”

Images: Instagram