Facebook announced last night a new very important decision that ultimately involves the imposition of regulations that the American company has obliged itself to comply with in front of many state authorities. More precisely, those at Facebook are obliged by law not to allow children under the age of 13 to have an account within the social network, the GDPR regulation strengthening this rule, and the American company is going to impose it seriously.
Facebook was supposed to prohibit access to the social network for children under the age of 13 for a very long time, but only after an American journalist was employed by the company, the real practice was revealed. Facebook and Instagram they have not bothered to delete the accounts of those who are younger than 13 years old, but the company has announced that it will impose this regulation for both of its platforms starting from the next period.
Facebook: IMPORTANT decision that also affects Instagram
Facebook will start asking some of its users for an identity card to prove their age, the company will analyze the accounts and impose the measure only for those who appear to be minors. If until now Facebook checked some accounts only if they were reported as belonging to children under the age of 13, now employees will also check this for any account, regardless of what it is reported for by someone.
"We have to have an admission that the person is underage. If not, we just pretend that we are blind and that we don't know what underage looks like. Since the program, we have been working to update the guidance for reviewers to put a hold on any account they encounter if they have a strong indication it is underage, even if the report was for something else."
Facebook will block any kind of accounts that violate American and European legislation, including if they belong to the Instagran platform, at least until it is proven that the people are at least 13 years old. This change on the part of Facebook could lead to a decrease in the number of monthly active users, and this is because there are many children under the age of 13 who have access to the platform and spend a lot of time within it, both from the US, as well as from the EU.