Facebook Facts

Some 7.5 million of the 20 million American minors who used Facebook in the past year were younger than 13, and a million of them were bullied, harassed or threatened on the site, says a study released Tuesday.

Even more troubling, more than five million Facebook users were 10 years old or younger, and they were allowed to use Facebook largely without parental supervision, leaving them vulnerable to threats ranging from malware to sexual predators, the State of the Net survey by Consumer Reports found.

Facebook's terms of service require users to be at least 13, but many children, or their parents, get around that rule by giving a false birth date when they sign up for the social networking site.
Parents of kids 10 and younger who use Facebook "seem to be largely unconcerned" by their children's use of the site, possibly because they think a young child is less vulnerable to Internet risks, the study says.
But, while a 10-year-old might not download pornography on the Internet, he or she does "need protection from other hazards that might lurk on the Internet, such as links that infect their computer with malware and invitations from strangers, not to mention bullies," the study says.

More than five million U.S. households have been exposed in the past year to "some type of abuse" via Facebook, including virus infections, identity theft and bullying, says the study.
Consumer Reports urged parents to delete their preteens' Facebook accounts -or ask Facebook to do so by using the site's "report an underage child" form -and to monitor teenage kids' accounts by friending them or keeping an eye on their activity via siblings' or friends' Facebook pages.

Respected Readers: Need your help to keep the site up and running. please donate ! Any help is appreciated.