There are many dangers associated with the online world, especially for youngsters. These dangers include cyber fraud, cyberbullying, etc. That’s why there are certain age group restrictions for children who want to use social media services.
Many prominent social media platforms have age groups restrictions for protecting and preventing underage children from creating an account. This law about age restriction can be strange and confusing.
Reasons for Age Restrictions
In our everyday life, we see social media age restrictions in UK everywhere observing which many people have a question aroused in their mind that why is age restriction necessary. To them, the answer is social media age restrictions in UK and worldwide has much biological importance.
Even as adults, we can not even guarantee that our words and actions are capable enough to be cemented into the books accessible worldwide. Then, children are far reached in this matter. So, people under 13 must be restricted from giving their views on this living history book known as the internet. There is biological importance to social media age restrictions in UK.
It is proven psychologically that at around the age of 12, many children haven’t developed healthy cognitive functions which can boost ethical thinking or impulse control. The young cognitive intelligence can not grasp the effects imposed by a single post on social media. Even a single mistake can not be eliminated from the internet, which can affect children’s future.
Not only that but also if the child is socially harassed, the decision made by him due to his limited cognitive ability can put him into mental or physical danger. Other than the undeveloped cognitive issues, there are also some legal actions when children give false information about their age on social media accounts. Moreover, when any child signup by using the wrong birth date, they are excluded from the protection reach offered by COAPP and all their information is at risk.
Age Group Restrictions in the UK
In the United Kingdom, there are age group restrictions on many different varieties of products and services, including solvents to alcohol. You are not allowed to tattoo a person under the legal age of 18; however, body piercing has no restriction. Similarly, if you are under 16, you can not choose your general practitioner by yourself. However, the medical professional is allowed to give you confidential medical advice, which he thinks is understandable by you.
The children within the age group 12-18 are in their journey towards maturity. They tend to make their own decisions which aren’t an easy deal for the parents. The element that has made this journey even more difficult is the internet.
Many prominent social media platforms, including Facebook, have set 13 years of age restriction. This restriction is due to the US law where there is a requirement of parental consent, for those parents who want to capture their children’s data. There isn’t any such law in the UK, but children have to follow the rules set by the company. There isn’t any strict measure taken by the company to ensure the restriction. Thus, it is observed that around half of the children population in the UK between 9 and 12 age groups have a Facebook account.
How old should you be to be able to use Social Networks?
The US law has imposed the age limit and further restrictions in the constitution of Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This act determines that all social networking sites must assure that the users from the age of 13 and over are allowed to create a social profile.
At first, the act demanded these social media platforms for seeking “verifiable parental consent” for children, after then, it should be restricted how these young users can use their data. However, according to several reports, many applications wouldn’t consider this act as a worthwhile policy.
In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, decided to fight for changing the laws of COPPA; however, the restrictions weren’t amended. Yet, to date, the ever-increasing number of British children have access to the internet and social media platforms.
At What Age can you join?
The two most-used and admired social media platforms among the younger age people are Facebook and Instagram. The age limit for both of these social media platforms are at least 13 years old for creating an account, and in some cases, the limit gets higher.
It is under the violating terms of Facebook that a person creates a Facebook account using false information. This includes registering an account under the age of 13. If you know any history used by an under-age person on Instagram or Facebook, you have all the right to report it.
In a study accomplished by CBBC, from all the children using different social media platforms without their parents’ consent or permission, 48 per cent of them are signed up on Facebook.
Twitter is one of the sites popular among politicians, celebrities, prominent members of society, even ordinary people worldwide to present their views briefly within 140 characters known as tweets. If you want to use the services by Twitter, the age restriction for this social platform in the UK and worldwide should be at least 13-years-old.
Snapchat
Initially, Snapchat was designed for people over the age of 13 to post photos and videos ranging the time limit of 10 seconds. These photos and videos instantly disappear when seen by the other person.
After it became highly popular among the teens, the developers introduced the limited version of Snapchat for children under the age of 13 known as SnapKidz. It allows drawing and photos; however, you can not send messages through it. Children under the age of 13, when signed up to Snapchat, are automatically redirected to Snapkidz.
The messaging application designated for mobile phones only is WhatsApp. It allows the user above the age of 16 to use WhatsApp.
YouTube
The restrictions assigned by YouTube are ideal in terms of COPPA Act for visual material. The platform has restricted the account holders to be aged 18 and over.
Big Majority of Underage children using Social Media
According to the research held worldwide, a substantial amount of primary school children from the age of 6 to 10 are on different social media platforms. Around a quarter of the total population of children of age ten who go online claim to be having a social profile. With this proportion, around 43% of 11-year-olds, 1% of pre-school children, and 4% of kindergartners and pre-primary children have accounts on social media platforms. Based on this analysis, when reaching the age of 13, more than half of the population have a social presence, while at 15, almost every child has one social media account.
There is also a majority of parents who aren’t aware of the restricted age requirement to have a social media profile. Around a quarter of parents have stated that they’ll let their children create social media accounts before reaching the minimum age. But, we can’t deny the number who research the minimum age for different social sites.
Facebook is the most recognized platform, where 27% of parents know the age limit. Around 20% of parents know about Instagram while for Snapchat, there is 15% recognition. WhatsApp is another application where 50% of parents know that there is an age requirement; however, 5% of them pay attention to this age limit.
Tiktok, Whatsapp and Insta used by Young Children
Over the last five years, around 70% of children between the age of 12 to 15 have a social media profile. However, platforms used by them vary due to trends and popularity. Over the past year, WhatsApp has gained extensive popularity which is used by 62% of underage people. When we compare it to 2018 stats, where 43% of people used WhatsApp.
Similar to WhatsApp, there is a considerable proportion of underage children using TikTok. They enjoy Tiktok for creating content by following a particular set of templates, including lip-sync, copycat, and dance videos.
Protecting Your Children
On every social media platform, there is a limited social media age restrictions in UK for keeping the children safe. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, violating these restrictions are easy and straightforward. When young people use false information to use social media platforms, they don’t know the consequences of their posts.
They don’t even know the effective ways of handling any situation because of their young minds; that’s why even the law can not protect them through the act for youth. However, there is much different parental control software through which parents can strictly monitor their child’s access to social media until they’re old and mature enough.
