You must be at least 13 years old to use Facebook, and if you are under the legal adult age in your country, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms on your behalf. Meta's products are not intended for children under 13.
Children under 13 are legally prohibited from creating Facebook accounts, but the absence of robust age verification means underage users may access the platform and have their data collected without compliant parental consent, creating risk for families and regulatory liability for Meta.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Minimum Age and Parental Consent (COPPA) and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →This provision is legally significant because it establishes the age gate required by COPPA in the US, but relies on self-reported age with no verified parental consent mechanism — a known enforcement vulnerability that has attracted regulatory scrutiny globally.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. §§6501–6506, 16 CFR Part 312) requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13, enforced by the FTC with civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation per day. UK Age Appropriate Design Code (Children's Code) under s.123 Data Protection Act 2018, enforced by the ICO, imposes heightened protections for under-18s. GDPR Art. 8 requires parental consent for under-16s (or lower member state threshold) for information society services. EU DSA Art. 28 prohibits targeted advertising to minors. (2)
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Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
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