Mark Zuckerberg: children should be allowed to use Facebook

The under-13s should be allowed to use Facebook, the social network’s founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said.

Speaking at a summit on innovation in schools and teaching in Newark, New Jersey, Mr Zuckerberg said that the current age limit would be challenged “at some point”.

Claire Perry, Conservative MP for Devizes, who has campaigned for online safety, said that ““I would be very uncomfortable about extending this and I think it’s very, very irresponsible of Facebook to be suggesting it.”

“With close parental supervision all of these social networking sites can be interesting and enjoyable. But I know from my own experience it is all too easy for a young child to get involved in situations that I think are really uncomfortable,” she said.

Facebook’s usual 13-and over age limit elsewhere is dictated by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which became Federal Law in America in 1998. Current UK legislation does not, however, preclude Facebook from being used by under-13s but the site’s own terms and conditions do. The US is currently reviewing its COPPA legislation. In Spain, only those children 14-and-over are permitted to use Facebook because of national legislation.