Grown-up talk about Facebook, kids under 13
Is Facebook a place where kids belong? More parents may be asking themselves that question soon, as the social-networking giant considers inviting preteen youngsters to officially join.
Such a move would be a brazen effort by the newly public Menlo Park company to hook ever-younger kids on the service as it rapidly exhausts its domestic growth opportunities. And yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean it would be the wrong call.
In fact, the possible policy shift, first reported by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, could lead to a big improvement over how kids access the site now.
Faced with the social network’s official ban
on those under 13, millions of kids simply lie about their age to log on, often with a parent’s assistance. In that scenario, they end up on the raw version of the site designed for adults and teens, subjecting them to the full force of Facebook’s marketing and data collection, as well as content that isn’t age appropriate. By creating a legitimate on-ramp for young users, the Menlo Park company has an opportunity to create a safer, more appropriate experience for them. The critical question, of course, is whether Facebook can or will do so responsibly.
Tweens already on
Some important background: The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act already limits the personal information that online advertisers can knowingly collect about children under 13, by requiring parental consent before doing so. The Federal Trade Commission is considering amendments that would require clearer parental notifications, allow more efficient means of consent and expand the definition of personal information.
But none of this applies if Facebook or other sites don’t know that those they’re dealing with are under 13. And that’s the case a shocking amount of the time.
Last June, Consumer Reports found that 7.5 million of the 20 million active minors on Facebook were younger than 13. Late last year, a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. parents found that 55 percent of those with 12-year-olds said their child has a Facebook account and 76 percent helped them open it.
“Were parents and their children able to gain access honestly, the site providers might well present them with child-appropriate experiences and information designed to enhance safety,” read the joint report from UC Berkeley, Harvard, Northwestern and New York University researchers.
That’s precisely what Facebook says it’s now exploring, though it stresses there’s nothing official to announce, and it may never make such a change.
“We are in continuous dialogue with stakeholders, regulators and other policymakers about how best to help parents keep their kids safe in an evolving online environment,” the company said in a statement.
The Journal reported that Facebook is testing ways of linking children’s accounts to their parents’ and providing parental control over access to friends, apps and games.
‘Child-friendly’ skeptics
It’s safe to guess that Facebook’s interest in lowering the age requirement has at least as much to do with its slowing user growth, a troubling problem for a newly public company that has faltered out of the IPO gate. Inviting kids aboard might also help combat the growing tween perception that Facebook is a place for “old” people — like, say, their parents.
Given these motivations and Facebook’s troubling track record on privacy, children’s and consumer advocates are rightfully skeptical about the company’s plans.
Common Sense Media says flatly that children under 13 shouldn’t be allowed on the service.
“Instead of trying to build brand awareness among 7- and 8-year-olds, they should focus on cleaning up all the troubling issues and deep concerns about privacy on the site already,” the San Francisco group’s chief executive, James Steyer, said.
Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, expressed similar concerns. But, he said, if Facebook does it correctly, it could represent progress over a status quo in which kids just lie about their age.
He argues that the company should go beyond the proposed new COPPA standards, minimizing data collection, eliminating viral marketing and maximizing disclosures to parents.
“We’ve been saying all along that Facebook could create a site or section that’s child friendly,” he said.
Is it R or NC-17?
There is a strong U.S. tradition of creating special protections for young people. We limit the amount of advertising allowed during children’s programming. We set rules for what movies they can and can’t see.
The question here, as I see it, is whether Facebook is more like an R-rated movie, which kids can see when accompanied by a parent, or an NC-17 flick, for which they aren’t allowed in the theater at all.
Personally, I wouldn’t allow my 11-year-old onto Facebook (if I had one). That has as much to do with social networking’s still unclear impact on our thinking and performance as its sometimes adult content. But I don’t think Facebook’s so clearly damaging that all parents should be compelled to act in kind. It’s no “Showgirls.”
If and when Facebook invites youngsters in, the critical issue that regulators should monitor is the kind of system it creates. Will built-in disclosures and controls add up to the equivalent of “accompanying” youngsters in their early social-networking experiences — or just allowing them to wander into smut films alone?