Facebook planning to allow children below 13 to use site under parental guidance

Washington, June 4 (ANI): Facebook has planned to develop a technology that would allow children below the age of 13 to use the social-networking site under parental supervision.

Mechanisms being tested include connecting children's accounts to their parents' and controls that would allow parents to decide whom their kids can 'friend' and what applications they can use, sources have revelaed.

The under-13 features could enable Facebook and its partners to charge parents for games and other entertainment accessed by their children, people who have spoken with the firm's executives about the technology revealed.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the move could help the company tap a new pool of users for revenue, but also inflame privacy concerns.

Facebook currently bans users under 13, but many kids lie about their ages to get accounts.

According to the paper, any attempt to give younger kids access to the site would be extraordinarily sensitive, given regulators' already heightened concerns about how Facebook protects user privacy. (ANI)