As part of their privacy policies, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube specify that users must be at least 13 years old. Parents may be unaware of this requirement.<\/p>\n
The minimum age stipulations are based on the requirements of the US Congress as set out in the\u00a0Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.<\/a>1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0The act specifies that website operators must gain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting any personal information from a child younger than 13 years old (O’Keeffe et al., 2011). Many social networking sites avoid this requirement by setting a minimum age of use at 13 years old but there is no onus on website operators to verify the age of users.<\/p>\n \u2013 Office of the esafety Commissioner, Australia<\/p>\n Help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. Explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules.\u00a0To assist you use the follow strategies:<\/p>\n Key questions to help determine your child\u2019s readiness for social media include:<\/p>\n Parent controls can be used to effectively manage your child\u2019s use of technology. These can be used:<\/p>\n Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n They can be set up to do things like:\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Online Safety Basics<\/h3>\n
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Use Parent Controls<\/h3>\n
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