More than one-third of children who are using various social media platforms and belong to the age group of 8 to 17 are signing up with a fake date of birth, reveals a study done by the UK's media watchdog Ofcom. And these social media platforms are unable to stop them, stated the report.
A report by IANS stated that the number of children who are using social media platforms to socialise is increasing and an official statement by Ofcom said, “Our latest research shows that most (77%) social media users aged between 8 and 17 have their account or profile on at least one of the large social media platforms.” The official statement also said that even when these children with social media accounts are not online, they spend their time in person with their peers talking about the latest social media trends. "So, if children aren't on these platforms, they could feel excluded from conversations and even friendship groups," Ofcom noted.
Many children, particularly between 8 and 12, had help from their parents or guardians to set up their social media accounts, suggested the research. In most cases, the parents' intention behind creating the social media accounts for their children was to make sure their child “does not miss out”, stated the report.
In most social media platforms, the minimum age for creating an account is 13 and they ask the users to self-declare their age. "This means that children under 13 need to say they're older than they are if they want to create an account," the UK watchdog said. "Some children who've done this have told us that their current profiles made them much older, with extreme examples as high as 50 years old. One of the reasons they give for creating a profile with much older age is because they believe they're getting a more limited experience when their profile is registered at a child's age and so deliberately register as older," it added.
The report by IANS stated that Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Meta 405 million Euros last month after an investigation was held on the handling of teenagers' data. Even though most parents are aware of the fact that the minimum requirement for children to be on social media is 13 years, they still allow their wards to use these apps anyway, stated the report. "This is perhaps because they feel comfortable making a judgment call about whether, for example, their ten-year-old can cope with content suitable for children aged 13 or older," the report added.
