Facebook’s minimum age requirement of 13 years old has been in place since the platform first launched in 2004. This rule stems from a U.S. law called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which imposes certain requirements to protect the privacy of children under 13. While some may question or be frustrated by the 13+ policy, there are good reasons why Facebook upholds it.
COPPA Requirements
COPPA was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998 and took effect in 2000. The main goal of the law was to put stronger restrictions on websites and online services to better protect the privacy and safety of children under 13. Some key points of COPPA include:
- Websites/online services must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13.
- Parents must be provided access or the ability to review their child’s personal information and make requests to have it deleted.
- Websites/online services must take reasonable steps to keep children’s data private and secure.
- Children under 13 cannot participate in activities that illegally collect information like their name, address, email, hobbies, etc.
Facebook allows people to share a huge amount of personal information – their name, birthday, photos, location, interests, and more. They also provide chat/messaging services. All of these activities could put young children at risk if not managed properly. Complying with COPPA allows Facebook to operate legally and gives parents more control over their child’s account and information.
Protecting Children’s Privacy
The main reason Facebook upholds the 13+ requirement is to protect children’s privacy and prevent data collection without the proper consent. Some specific privacy risks for young children on Facebook could include:
- Personal information like name, date of birth, photos being shared with strangers.
- Location data being tracked and stored.
- Children not understanding privacy settings and oversharing information publicly.
- Minors being contacted inappropriately by adults via messaging.
- Cyberbullying by classmates, friends, or strangers.
Children under 13 are more vulnerable to these risks because they lack the maturity and judgement to navigate social media wisely. They may not think through the implications of sharing certain information. Facebook upholding COPPA helps mitigate these risks until a child is old enough to properly manage their privacy settings and online behavior.
Verifiable Parental Consent
Facebook’s minimum age of 13 ensures they are only collecting information from minors when the child’s parent/guardian has given verifiable consent. This consent requires the parent have full knowledge of the information being collected and how it will be used. Facebook needs to confirm the identity of the parent giving permission.
Trying to obtain verifiable parental consent for every under 13 user would be extremely challenging for Facebook. By avoiding this entire issue and only allowing 13+, they can simplify their processes while also protecting children’s privacy until they reach an age where they can consent themselves.
Limiting Exposure to Advertising
Facebook relies heavily on advertising revenue. Advertisers can target very specific demographics and interest groups among Facebook users. Preventing under-13 accounts reduces the exploitation of children for advertising purposes without their understanding. It upholds higher ethical standards in Facebook’s business model.
Promoting Age-Appropriate Content
Facebook serves as a platform for all kinds of content – news, politics, viral videos, memes, and more. Some of this content is not suitable for young children. Keeping Facebook restricted to 13+ helps create an environment better tailored to teenagers and up. It reduces the risks of under 13s being exposed to inappropriate content.
Type of Content Shared
Facebook users share a wide variety of content. This includes:
- News and current events – some of which may be controversial or graphic.
- “Fake news” or misleading information not suitable for young kids.
- Edgy viral jokes, memes and videos using profanity or dark humor.
- Strong political opinions and heated debates in the comments.
- Promotions for age restricted products like alcohol, streaming services with mature content, etc.
While Facebook has some content moderation policies, questionable content still regularly goes viral because it gains a lot of attention and engagement. It is safest to keep under 13s in an environment like Facebook Kids where content can be restricted.
13+ Users Posting Recklessly
Facebook’s massive user base means people post all kinds of inflammatory, profane or inappropriate content. Teenagers and adults sometimes use poor judgement in what they share publicly. Restricting Facebook to 13+ reduces the chances of young kids being exposed to reckless behavior from older users. There are higher risks of inappropriate content and conduct in a platform without age segregation compared to a “walled garden” like Facebook Kids.
Reducing Cyberbullying and Predatory Behavior
Social media unfortunately enables cyberbullying, harassment, predators, scams and other risks – especially when there is anonymity. Keeping under 13s off Facebook reduces these dangers. Some concerning issues that are more safely avoided include:
- Adults with bad intentions preying on minors.
- Cyberbullies targeting and harassing kids.
- Scam accounts or bots friending minors.
- Kids making reckless social media challenges that encourage harm.
Facebook has strong blocking, reporting and anti-bully systems in place. But eliminating under-13 accounts altogether is the simplest protection. Bad actors can try to lie about their age, but Facebook’s policy still deters a lot of inappropriate contact with kids.
Anonymity Enabling Harassment
One of the biggest cyberbullying dangers on platforms like Facebook is anonymity. It allows people to harass others without consequences. Some cyberbullying behaviors enabled by anonymity include:
- Posting cruel gossip, rumors or threats using fake accounts.
- Sharing embarrassing photos/videos of classmates or other kids.
- Making “hate pages” dedicated to mocking certain students.
- Sending abusive messages without exposing your identity.
- Coordinating mass harassment and bullying campaigns where many users target one victim.
Under 13s can be deeply impacted by these anonymous attacks. Keeping younger kids off Facebook reduces this risk at vulnerable ages. Facebook upholds real identity policies as one protective measure.
Predatory Adults
Unfortunately, there are adults who will try to use social networks to access and exploit minors. Facebook keeping out under-13s aims to reduce predatory behavior including:
- Adults friending random minors they don’t know.
- Grooming kids via messaging to manipulate them.
- Catfishing by pretending to be a peer to connect with kids.
- Following or tracking minors’ profiles and activity.
- Soliciting sexual content or favors from minors.
These dangers arise because kids can interact with strangers from anywhere on social media. Facebook tries to ban predatory accounts when discovered, but preventing under-age usage reduces this risk for defenseless children.
Meeting Requirements for Advertisers and Other Partners
In addition to COPPA regulations, Facebook’s minimum age requirement helps them meet guidelines from partners like advertisers, app developers, researchers and more. Keeping under-13 accounts off the platform allows Facebook to operate simpler legal contracts with partners.
Advertising Policies
Facebook’s massive ad business needs to follow guidelines from partners to place their ads appropriately. Many advertisers avoid promoting products like alcohol, gambling, medications, or inappropriate content to minors. Facebook restricting users to 13+ helps them deliver on promises like:
- Allowing age-gating so certain ads only show for 18+ or 21+ users.
- Giving advertisers confidence they won’t promote products like cannabis to kids.
- Letting advertisers target teenager and adult demographics specifically for their campaigns.
- Showing age restricted gaming ads only to eligible ages.
These examples show how upholding the 13+ minimum age benefits Facebook’s relationships and agreements with advertisers.
External Partners
Similarly, many external partners like game developers, research groups, data analytics services, etc. require that Facebook enforce minimum ages and parental consent where applicable. Avoiding underage users simplifies compliance and legal processes with all entities connected to Facebook’s platform.
Complying with Global Age Regulation
Facebook upholding their 13+ requirement provides consistency as they expand to different countries globally. Some regions allow as low as 13 for consent, while others require 14, 16 or even 18+ in their privacy laws. Staying at 13+ ensures Facebook complies worldwide.
Age of Digital Consent By Country
| Country | Minimum Age |
|---|---|
| United States | 13 |
| Canada | 13 |
| United Kingdom | 13 |
| European Union | 16 |
| China | 14 |
| Korea | 14 |
| Philippines | 13 |
| Australia | 13 |
| India | 18 |
Facebook chose 13 based on the most common minimum age worldwide. Stricter countries adopt higher ages, but Facebook meets all regulations by keeping their requirement consistent globally at 13+.
Operational Simplicity
From a product development and operations standpoint, maintaining the 13+ standard allows Facebook to build cleaner features and processes. Avoiding COPPA compliance for young kids simplifies privacy controls, ad delivery, age-gated content, and more.
Streamlining Privacy Features
By only dealing with users 13+, Facebook can create more straightforward privacy controls focused on teenagers and adults. They avoid building special parental controls or getting approvals from guardians. Privacy options stay simple without different rules for underage accounts.
Facebook has faced enough challenges trying to improve privacy for adult users. Keeping under-13s off the platform lets them focus privacy engineering efforts only on 13+ needs.
Age Verification Process
Operationally, keeping under 13s away also simplifies Facebook’s age verification mechanisms. They implement some age checks during certain account activities. But allowing under 13s would mean verifying ages much more frequently, like:
- Getting documented parental approvals.
- Cross-checking information entered at signup.
- Following up on user behavior signals that suggest an inappropriate age.
- Handling appeals for banned underage accounts.
By avoiding this extra age verification workload, Facebook maintains leaner operations needed to run a platform with billions of users.
Reducing Moderation Overhead
Facebook’s content moderation at scale is highly complex. Allowing under 13s would expand the categories of policy violation and inappropriate content to monitor and remove. For example:
- Deleting more minor safety policy violations as learning experiences.
- Restricting recreational cannabis or dating content from minors.
- Proactively moderating for child safety risks.
Keep out under 13s reduces content policy and moderation overhead. Facebook can aim rules purely at a 13+ audience.
Avoiding Child Safety Controversies
Many social networks have faced backlash for compromising child safety. By upholding its age minimum, Facebook reduces risk of controversies like:
- Alleged COPPA violations and FTC penalties.
- Predatory behavior from adults reaching children.
- Parents objecting to inappropriate content for kids.
- Minors being exposed to uncivil political content.
A 13+ requirement helps shield Facebook from scandals that have plagued competitors. While no policy is foolproof, Facebook aims to demonstrate safety leadership in the industry.
FTC COPPA Enforcement Examples
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has aggressively fined technology companies who failed to meet COPPA protections:
- YouTube – $170 million penalty in 2019 for tracking kids under 13 without consent.
- TikTok – $5.7 million fine in 2019 for failing to remove underage accounts.
- HyperBeard – $150,000 penalty in 2018 for letting kids play mobile games without parental approval.
Facebook avoids similar criticism and fines by clearly banning under-13 accounts. This shows regulators they operate a 13+ only platform.
Providing a 13+ Community
Overall, Facebook’s 13+ requirement aims to provide an online community tailored specifically to teenagers and adults. Keeping younger kids away establishes expectations for higher maturity in how users interact:
- Posting and sharing content relevant for 13+ audiences.
- Having more thoughtful discussions around news, politics, social issues.
- Creating humor, memes, videos and trends for teenagers/adults.
- Forming interest groups related to high schoolers and older users.
Parents don’t need to worry about their under 13 child seeing questionable content or conduct from older users. Facebook creates a “safe space” for teens and grown-ups separated from younger kids.
13+ Community Guidelines
Facebook’s community standards and moderation assume users are 13 or older. Rules prohibit content that:
- Incites harm or violence.
- Bullying or harassing.
- Hate speech.
- Sexually suggestive.
- Sensational or misleading.
- Infringes rights.
Enforcing policies for 13+ users enables more open conversation suitable for teenagers and adults compared to a platform for young kids.
Conclusion
Facebook upholding a minimum age of 13 provides benefits across many areas – complying with COPPA, protecting children’s privacy, reducing risks for kids, operating safely and legally, and creating an appropriate 13+ community. While some users seek ways around the requirement, Facebook’s 13+ policy ultimately aims to keep the platform secure and inclusive for teenagers and adults.