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Facebook: Bans 20,000 young children daily

ByLaurel Papworth

Every day Facebook removes access to 20,000 members under the age of 13 for lying about their age. They lie about their age because under 13’s are not allowed on Facebook. Should Facebook ban them? Given that many young kids are on there to connect with friends and family at a distance – cousins overseas,…

Every day Facebook removes access to 20,000 members under the age of 13 for lying about their age. They lie about their age because under 13’s are not allowed on Facebook. Should Facebook ban them? Given that many young kids are on there to connect with friends and family at a distance – cousins overseas, Grandma interstate, is banning the right thing in this day and age? Or are there other solutions? What if Facebook was to create a “child” account attached to a parent account that parents could manage?

From News.com

  • Facebook bans 20,000 kids for lying about age
  • Reveals third of Australians log on to site daily
  • Industry calls for cyber-safety classes in schools

SOCIAL networking giant Facebook is banning 20,000 children every day because they have lied about their age to join the site.

The company admitted it had to do more to stop young people using Facebook, as it revealed about a third of Australia’s population uses the site every day, the Herald Sun reported.

At a parliamentary inquiry into cyber-bullying, other social networking and online companies called for campaigns to highlight the dangers of the internet.

Technical Solution to Facebook Cyberbullying

How about a children’s account -created off the parent’s email login. Parents get the friend “invitations” and approve them or otherwise. Any under 13 account is automatically locked down and not public, so joining “Bananas in Pajamas” (the biggest Australian fanpage by the way). AND NO ADS. I insist. No dodgy ads either. Then Facebook can truly be “not a social network with 500 million members but 500 million social networks”. Because if you delete their account they will create another one. And be unmonitored while they are accessing it secretly at a friend’s house. Well, that’s what I would do if I was under 13.

Social Solution to Facebook Cyberbullying

Banning social media services and deleting the accounts simply creates a situation where children are expected to launch, fully au fait with social media, at 13, or else they are learning by themselves in secret. Stop banning and start educating!

20 Comments

    1. That’s what I think. No kid under age of 13 needs to be on facebook. but just deleting the accounts will probably not do it, that’s true. As most kids will be intelligent enough to just create a new account and lie about the age. I like that parent account thingy, but I doubt many kids will be interested in having a facebook account, if they know that their parents are reading all their stuff…

  17. I think it is completely naieve to think that kids don’t want (or need) to be on facebook. Facebook is a communication channel, it’s like saying kids under 13 shouldn’t be able to use the phone to call their friends.

    But should there be restrictions and monitoring – absolutely!

    I think by banning kids you are inviting far more bad things to happen as kids start creating accounts anyway with fake ages and fake names, but with real pictures.

    I think having a children’s account would allow kids to learn about the do’s and don’t’s of facebook. Like pocket money it will give them a chance to play in a paddling pool before they are launched into the ocean.

    I think your on the money laurel.

  18. Pingback: Facebook kicks off 20,000 Underage users every day. | Marco Polo

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