Following complaints from a father about his daughter being exposed to “sexual predators at the age of 11”, Facebook has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum. This is an out-of-court settlement as the hearing was due next week. With this, Facebook has had to pay because of their inability to restrict under-aged users from accessing the site.
According to reports, the man has accused the site of exposing his 11-year-old daughter to sexual predators as she uploaded explicit images of herself to contact men from different accounts. The lawyer of the family has accused Facebook of neglecting its “duty of care” whereby they should ensure the age of users before signing them up.
However, the spokesman for Facebook has said that they do not allow users below 13 years to open an account. In case somebody under aged tries to open an account, they remove it as soon as it comes to notice. He did not mention any details related to the case because all parties are bound to maintain confidentiality.
Social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Snapchat, Tumblr and Instagram have also restricted the minimum age of users to 13 years to ensure healthy interactions. However, it is not uncommon to see young users online faking their age. As online companies grow, it should be considered how they can keep the private lives of their users safe.
The father who has sued Facebook is from Ireland. He has preferred to remain anonymous.
