Lack of verification of accounts on Facebook has allowed several underage children to have accounts on the social networking site which does not allow children under 13 years of age.
The youth research agency Family Kids and Youth has revealed that it is easy for kids to have accounts with fake names and details, according to the Guardian.
The agency’s Barbie Clarke said that some kids will have two or even three.
Clarke added, "Their habits change and we’re seeing them progress from the obvious lie about their age – allowing them to use Facebook in the first place – to this second or third identity. It’s usually driven by Mum picking up on something from their page and raising it with them. They want privacy and they want a secret world.
"A second identity can be used for nastiness, to anonymously bully, but generally it’s about secrecy – like a secret diary, or dialogue they can have away from parents and other family members," said Clarke.
Meanwhile, Facebook has one more lawsuit against its slack privacy policy.
Last week, Facebook had to admit an error and fix a cookie that registered user site preferences even after they had logged out of the service. The glitch was brought to light by an Australian blogger, who started a campaign against the stealth cookies in August last year.
Authorities in Ireland are investigating the matter and also about the new ‘frictionless sharing’ that the site has introduced as part of the design overhaul announced last month.
On 29 September, ten public-interest groups asked the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook’s ‘log out’ tracking cookies. The Electronic Privacy Information Centre and nine other groups urged the FTC to examine whether Facebook’s new features including the Ticker and the Timeline infringe on the privacy of users.
However, Facebook says that such concerns are unfounded.
"We believe this complaint is without merit and we will fight it vigorously," Andrew Noyes, a spokesman Facebook told Businessweek.
In the UK and the US, women’s rights activists have raised concerns after the social networking site refused to take down pages on which users wrote about sexual assaults.
Activists have accused Facebook of promoting rape and "rape culture", saying that the paged make sexual assaults seem frivolous.
Facebook said, "Direct statements of hate against particular communities violate our statement of rights and responsibilities and are removed when reported to us."
Facebook added. "However, groups that express an opinion on a state, institution, or set of beliefs – even if that opinion is outrageous or offensive to some – do not by themselves violate our policies."
