• Facebook rules prevent children under 13 from signing up
  • But a third of nine to 12-year-olds are believed to have a Facebook profile
  • Experts today said parents should prevent usage by underage children
  • And Facebook admitted it cannot stop children lying about their age

By Becky Evans

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Experts estimate that one third of nine to 12-year-olds in the UK have a Facebook page despite rules that say only those aged 13 or over can sign up

Experts estimate that one third of nine to 12-year-olds in the UK have a Facebook page despite rules that say only those aged 13 or over can sign up

Parents are responsible for the rise of young  children using Facebook, an executive from the website warned yesterday.

Simon Milner, policy director for Facebook in the UK and Ireland, was joined by Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology of the London School of Economics, in warning that parents were flouting the site's age restrictions by either helping their children create accounts or failing to be firm with them and stop them from signing up.

As a result youngsters who use Facebook risk  being exposed to porn and online grooming.

The site sets a minimum membership age of 13, however Mr Milner admits there is 'no mechanism' to stop youngsters lying about how old they are.

Professor Livingstone said figures from two years ago show that 34 per cent of nine to 12-year-olds in the UK had a Facebook profile, adding it 'can only have gone up since then'. She suggested the starting age was reaching school years five to six, or children aged ten to 11.

Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Professor Livingstone, who researches children and internet use, urged parents to be stricter, saying: 'If parents say "no, you're too young", young children will listen to that…Parents should say no.'

Blocked: Users must vouch that they are 13 or older to sign up for the website but many children simply lie about their age

Blocked: Users must vouch that they are 13 or older to sign up for the website but many children simply lie about their age

Mr Milner, who was at the same event, said: 'I am well aware of research which shows there are a lot of 11, 12, or even younger children who have Facebook accounts and lie about their age.

'The research also shows that, in the great majority, parents not only know about this but actually help their children do this. Just to be clear, we don't condone it.'

He admitted preventing under-age children from signing on was a 'tricky' area: 'We haven't got a mechanism for eradicating the problem.'

Spot checks and a reporting system are in place in an attempt to protect youngsters, he said.

He told the Oxford Media Convention it cannot make every user prove their age as it 'would get privacy advocates up in arms'.

However, he said the company neither 'condones' nor 'condemns' parents but says it is their decision.

Facebook rules state that anybody under 13 cannot use the website but there is nothing stopping a young child from lying when asked to enter their date of birth.

Mr Milner told the event: 'You can't make everyone prove their age … that would get privacy advocates up in arms.'

He added that the under-13s rule was in place not because Facebook is 'unsafe' but because of a US children's online privacy law.

The site does have strict rules about bullying and grooming and Mr Milner said policing Facebook would not be given to an external company.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

My daughter is nearly 12 and is asking me if she can set up a Facebook account as all her friends are on it but i refuse to allow it until she is at least 13. I just keep telling her its illegal to have an account under 13 yrs. The language and indecent pictures i see on my page from other people is shocking and i know i cant wrap her up in cotton wool but i do not want her seeing things like this. I have friends who have kids as young as 2 on Facebook for goodness sake! So wrong, in my eyes.

And? It is the parents fault.

Parents should parent their children? Whatever next! OF COURSE it's the parents' responsibility.

Im sorry to the parents out there who dont want there kids on facebook, they have good reasons for it as well there is alot of adult content on there that isnt meant for kids. But facebook is right it is the parents fault for letting there kids on facebook if there are underage, if the parent dont wont there kids on facebook then they should either learn how to use a computer properly and restrict websites like this or they can not let the kids on the internet till they are at a dicent age, but doing this would mean that they would have less interaction with there friend if they start to use social networking.

There's a basic filter which you can download for free. It allows you to block facebook on your pc or laptop and can't be changed without a password. But seriously blaming parents isn't the solution to this problem.

Sounds like a fair comment. If parents don't want their kids on Facebook, monitor them and stop them going on Facebook.

Both our under-5s have their own profiles that we control as it's a good way of sharing photos and videos of our kids with relatives and family friends. Seems silly that we had to lie about their ages to achieve this - it's obvious they are young kids from their photos. It's up to parents to check what their kids are doing online, not facebook or the US government.

So a US children's online privacy law is being ignored by a third of all under 13's. Facebook blame the parents. The parents blame Facebook or the children. Time the law was abandoned or enforced?

If Facebook charged 1 by credit or debit card to open an account then this would stop 1000s of young children getting an account without their Parents consent. What do you think??? Green arrow for, Red arrow against.

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