Warning over social media minimum age

HALF of parents in Scotland are oblivious to whether their children are old enough to be using social networks like Facebook and Snapchat, figures suggest.

The NSPCC survey found they were unaware social media sites like Facebook require users to be over the age of 13.

Their poll of 4,000 people across the UK – including more than 2,600 who had children of their own – found 20 per cent wrongly believed there was no age requirements to use the sites.

It comes amid a rise in the number of cases of adults sexually grooming minors as well as online bullying.

The NSPCC is urging social media companies to make age restrictions much clearer on sign-up pages and is offering advice to families to help keep children safe online.

It said there had been a rise in under-13s calling its anti-bullying helpline ChildLine after claiming to have suffered some kind of negative experience whilst online.

In one case, the NSPCC said a 12-year-old girl claimed she had felt pressured by a boy from her school during a game into sending naked pictures of herself. The charity said the girl alleged he had then shared the images on other social media sites, which had led to her being verbally abused at school.

Matt Forde, the NSPCC’s Scotland national head, said: “Age restrictions need to reflect the content and conduct possible on each site and be crystal clear to parents and their younger users. And platforms need to work harder to protect children and young people, building in child safety to the design of each site.

“Parents can be proactive by having conversations with their children about online safety as soon as they start using the internet.”

The charity runs a net awareness service, in partnership with mobile phone provider 02, which provides practical tips such as how to switch on parental controls, or manage privacy settings.