Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said at a summit Friday that social networking sites can be a tool for education and that Facebook should be able to open its site to users under 13, Fortune reported.
Right now, Facebook does not allow users under 13 to register for its site. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits companies from collecting information from young children without permission from parents. Facebook set 13 as its minimum age but a recent report, however, found that many users ignore those rules
The company believes it should focus on educating young users how to be safe on the site. It argues that it doesn’t have the technology to verify age.
Zuckerberg seemed to indicate that child online privacy rules need to be reformed.
“That will be a fight we take on at some point,” Zuckerberg said. “My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age.”
Zuckerberg said he envisions future students using social networks to study together and pull insights from their fellow students, the report said.
He said that current restrictions prevent the site from exploring these options but that the company would take “a lot of precautions” to make sure the site was safe for younger users.
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