Young People Ignore ‘Social Media Age Limit’

Three quarters of children aged 10 to 12 in the UK are said to have some form of social media account, even though they are below the age limit, a CBBC Newsround survey has announced.

The study, marking this year’s Safer Internet Day, suggests also that more than one in five have faced online bullying.

The global event promotes ‘safe and responsible’ use of the internet.

Instagram, used by millions of people worldwide, said if anyone suspects that accounts are being run by children under the age of 13, they should report them.

The Comres survey for Newsround, which was based on 1,200 young people aged between 10 and 18, found social media to be an important part of everyday life. Which is unsurprising, considering that over 67% of children have access to a smart device like a tablet or a smartphone.

Among the 13-18-year-olds, 96% were signed up to social media in some way, from Snapchat to Facebook, and even Whatsapp.

Among the under 13s, 78% were using at least one social media network, despite being up to three years below the age requirement. The age restriction comes from the US law called Coppa (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), which dates back to 1998.

Online services would have to seek parental consent from younger users, and then be restricted as to how much they can use the data.

However, most apps decided it would not be worth their while.

Some, like Facebook, Ask.fm and Kik, simply refuse access to their sites if the user is underage.

Others, like Yahoo, allow a child to set up an account, but then refuse subsidiary services – such as Flickr’s photo pages. However, others, like Instagram and Twitter, don’t directly ask users to confirm their birth date, but can ban them if they are suspected to be under 13.

According to the survey, two in five had used social media to spread rumours and a quarter had used it to say something ‘unkind’ or ‘rude’ to someone else online, and more than half had unfortunately seen cyber-bullying.

Hannah Broadbent, from UK Safer Internet Centre, said “It’s so important that we show children what other things they can do using digital technology that are engaging, creative and age-appropriate.”

A recent study, carried out by Childwise, showed that teenagers were actually using the internet to consume media more than conventional TV channels, with sites like YouTube and Netflix overtaking the average TV viewing.