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.

The accounts were later taken down by the social network.

Advertisement

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.

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. New Images of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Show a Giant Jet Shooting Toward the Sun
  1. New Images of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Show a Giant Jet Shooting Toward the Sun
  2. NASA’s Europa Clipper May Cross a Comet’s Tail, Offering Rare Glimpse of Interstellar Material
  3. Newly Found ‘Super-Earth’ GJ 251 c Could Be One of the Most Promising Worlds for Alien Life
  4. New Fossil Evidence Shows Dinosaurs Flourished Until Their Final Days
  5. Flattened Dark Matter May Explain Mysterious Gamma-Ray Glow at Milky Way’s Core, Study Finds
  6. NASA Telescopes Capture First-Ever Companion Star Orbiting Massive Red Supergiant Betelgeuse
  7. Scientists Caution That Artificial Cooling of Earth May Disrupt Monsoons and Weather Systems
  8. Carnegie Mellon’s AI Drones Can Build Mid-Air Structures With 90 Percent Success Rate
  9. Baai Tuzyapayi OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch Marathi Romantic Drama Online?
  10. Maxton Hall Season 2 OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch it Online?
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.