Facebook – 7.5 MILLION users under age 13

According to newly released figures from Consumer Reports, an estimated 7.5 million Facebook users are children under the age of 13, out of the 20 million or so minors who use Facebook each year. Also among this group of minors using Facebook, more than 5 million were 10 and under. A Consumer Reports survey found that their accounts were largely unsupervised by their parents, exposing them to malware or serious threats such as predators or bullies.

Facebook requires users to be at least 13 years of age, according to their terms of service.Facebook warns children under the age 13 against registration. Unfortunately, it is way too easy for kids to create a Facebook account simply by entering in a fake birthday – it’s the site’s only screening process to check a user’s age. Facebook does not require any formal identification to sign up.

1 Reply to "Facebook - 7.5 MILLION users under age 13"

  • Kate
    May 19, 2011 (11:10 am)

    There are several people who I know, who create accounts for their children, one as young as 4 years old and then they post stuff under their childs account as if they were the child. There are also a huge number of people who have pages for their pets. I don’t really get it.
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