Now Facebook WILL allow under-13s access in bid to boost revenue – but says parents can decide who their kids 'friend'

Facebook is planning to let children under the age of 13 sign up for the first time, despite privacy concerns and parents’ worries.
The social network wants to introduce parental controls so youngsters can join when they are old enough to work a mouse.
One option being considered is a filter so parents can decide who children can ‘friend’ and which applications they can use.

Blocked: Currently, users must vouch that they are 13 or older to sign up for the website... but some 7.5 million young children lie about their age and log on anyway

The move comes after Facebook floated on the stock exchange in the U.S. meaning it has to come up with new ways of making money to satisfy shareholders.
But any changes are likely to face fierce opposition as it has a highly questionable record on issues like Internet bullying.
Facebook rules state that anybody under 13 cannot use the website but there is nothing stopping a young child from lying when asked to enter their date of birth.
There are no other checks in place when a user signs up and as a result one in five 10-year-olds is on Facebook, as is 55 per cent of 12-year-olds.
According to the Wall St Journal the company is not working on a 'Facebook for kids' but instead is looking to sign up ever younger users to the existing version.
By reeling in young children it will allow Facebook to charge parents for games their children sign up for.
To this end Facebook has begun negotiations with identity-verification providers about how to get verifiable consent from parents to let their children use the website.

Pressure: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is under pressure to continue his company's massive growth after its botched IPO last month

Facebook's move comes after it's disastrous stock market floatation last month which has seen its stock slump by more than 20 per cent since the launch.
Now it is a public company it will have to constantly come up with ways to maintain the 88 per cent revenue growth it achieved last year from its 900million users.
Christina Warren of technology website Mashable.com said: 'Facebook wants users to be on the site as young as possible so as they get older they can become better advertising targets and better customers for their other services.'

 

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In the UK campaigners have long attacked Facebook for its disregard for the privacy of its users.
Claire Perry, Conservative MP for Devizes, who has spoken out on online safety, has branded the idea of Facebook for under-13s 'very irresponsible'.
Nick Pickles, director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'It's very hard to see how this is going to be a positive step for privacy.
'The long term risk is that Facebook will hold a staggering amount of data about us from cradle to grave and we will have to trust a company with a dubious track record of respecting privacy to respect our wishes on what happens to that data.'
John Carr, spokesman for the Family Online Safety Institute, said he was 'skeptical' about the announcement.
He said: 'What Facebook could do is embrace age verification to ensure that under-13s do not get on the site, as its own rules state.
'Facebook has always made clear that their site is not suitable for the under 13s, in terms of the content and advertising.
'If they are now proposing that then it implies major changes in its site'.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg caused a storm last year when he said he thought that Facebook would be good for the under-13s, although he knew it would be a 'fight' to convince people he was right.
A Facebook spokesman admitted that it was proving difficult to enforce the age restrictions.
She said: '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.'