Facebook pledges to lock accounts of under-13s

Facebook has pledged to proactively lock children’s accounts if it suspects they are under the age of 13.

The social media company said it would double the number of people working on its safety teams to 20,000 after Channel 4’s Dispatches exposed details of its moderators being told not to take any action if content showed a child visibly below its 13-year age limit.

Facebook reviewers have now been told that they can suspend any account if they have a “strong indication” that it belongs to someone aged under 13.

Up until now, reviewers at the social media platform would only lock accounts if the holder was reported specifically for being under age.