Facebook and Instagram are cracking down on underage children who hold accounts with the social networks. Moderators working for the online platforms now have the ability to proactively lock any accounts they suspect to be owned by someone under the age of 13. Blocked users will be required to prove their age with a government-issued photo ID.
Until now, moderators would only investigate accounts if they were reported specifically for being potentially underage by other Facebook and Instagram users. The ‘operational’ change was made after a Channel 4 documentary revealed the current policies used by moderators employed by the social network. Last November, a damning Ofcom report revealed that half of British 12-year-olds and more than a quarter of ten-year-olds have their own social media profiles.
Facebook and Instagram require users to be over the age of 13 to hold an account. This is because the US Child Online Privacy Protection Act states companies that collect personal information on users no longer need to seek the permission of a parent or guardian for users aged 13 and older. Until now, Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by the former, did little to enforce the rule.
When signing up to an account, the social networks ask users to enter a birth date, but do not ask for verification, allowing underage children to trick the system. Facebook will now be much stricter when it comes to enforcing this rule, according to a report from Tech Crunch. The ‘operational’ change was made in response to an undercover Channel 4 documentary, which saw a journalist work for Facebook as a content reviewer. The undercover journalist was told by a reviewer that moderators turn a blind eye to users who are under the required age.
‘We have to have an admission that the person is underage. If not, we just like pretend that we are blind and that we don’t know what underage looks like,’ the moderator admitted.
Last November, a damning report from Ofcom claimed half of British 12-year-olds and more than a quarter of ten-year-olds have their own social media profiles. In the US, a study by Consumer Reports found that some 7.5 million Facebook users are under the age of 13. After the undercover documentary aired, Facebook responded with a post explaining that it will improve its policies to ensure people under 13 are not able to hold an account.
HOW DO YOU REPORT A FACEBOOK USER AS UNDERAGE?
Facebook requires users to be over the age of 13 to hold an account. This is because the US Child Online Privacy Protection Act states companies that collect personal information on users no longer need to seek the permission of a parent or guardian for users aged 13 and older.
To report someone on Facebook, head to their profile page. In the bottom right-hand corner of the cover photo, click on the ‘…’ symbol. Select ‘Report’ from the dropdown menu that appears, then follow the on-screen instructions.
Another way to flag a potentially underage users is to copy the URL on their profile page, and send it to the social network’s moderators in the designated form on the website here. According to Facebook, ‘If you’re reporting a child’s account registered under a false date of birth, and the child’s age is reasonably verifiable as under 13, we will promptly delete the account.
Back in January, a watchdog warned Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat should tighten up their age controls and clamp down on underage users. The Information Commissioner’s Office stepped in after it emerged that the social media platforms were letting millions of British children on to the platform before they were 13. ICO guidelines state that social media giants must examine whether they put children at risk – by showing minors adverts for alcohol or gambling, for example. The guidance, which is under consultation, also calls on the firms to do a better job of kicking underage users off their platforms, and to stop or deter children from sharing their information online.
The ICO is acting as fears grow that children are signing up to social media websites long before they are emotionally equipped to use them.