Facebook Settles Lawsuit Over Allowing Underage Girl to Sign Up: Report

Advertisement
By Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: 14 September 2015 14:24 IST
Facebook has reportedly agreed to pay an undisclosed amount as out-of-court settlement to the father of a girl who, he claims, "was exposed to online sexual predators at the age of 11".

The father, who has remained anonymous, had sued Facebook for failing to enforce its age restriction policy. A trial had been due to begin last week after four years of legal wrangling.

His daughter, from Northern Ireland, who is only referred to as GS in legal documents uploaded sexual pictures of herself online and used a series of Facebook accounts to contact men, Daily Mail reported.

Advertisement

The accounts were later taken down by the social network.

But the family's lawyers claimed Facebook had a "duty of care" towards the girl and was "negligent" because it has no system in place to stop users from misrepresenting their ages.

Advertisement

"By registering an account and using Facebook the child might be exposing herself to sexual predators or other grave risks affecting her emotional and physical health," the court documents said.

Users of Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat and LinkedIn must be at least 13 years old.

"People have to be 13 to sign up to Facebook. When we become aware that someone is under 13 and they have therefore lied about their age, we remove their account," a Facebook spokesman explained.

"Regarding this legal case, all the parties are bound by the confidentiality terms - including Facebook," he added.

 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Smartphones Launched in India (April 2026): Top Handsets Launched in April
  1. James Webb Space Telescope Little Red Dots May Reveal Birth of Black Holes
  2. Falcon Heavy Roars Back to Life with Powerful Broadband Satellite Launch
  3. Jolly O Gymkhana Now Available Online: Where to Watch This Tamil Reality Show
  4. Mustafa Mustafa OTT Release: Where to Watch the Tamil Friendship Comedy Online
  5. Batchmates (2026) Now Streaming Online: What You Need to Know
  6. Amazon Now Expands to More Indian Cities With New Micro Warehouses
  7. Amazon Prime Day 2026 India Sale Set for July: Here’s What to Expect
  8. Bakkt Acquires DTR to Build Stablecoin Settlement Layer
  9. Samsung India Mobile Chief Raju Antony Pullan Steps Down; Aditya Babbar to Reportedly Lead MX Operations
  10. Oppo Reno 16, Reno 16 Pro Set to Launch Later This Month; Pre-Reservations Begin
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.