Children under 13 not allowed on Facebook

Many parents give their children permission to have a Facebook account, however the site regulations are clear: children under 13 are prohibited from opening an account.

Social network executives have decided to take drastic measures, and are now deleting about 20,000 accounts daily, reports the Daily Telegraph, a total of 7 million over the course of one year.

"There are people who lie,” said Mozelle Thompson, Facebook’s chief privacy advisor. “There are people who are under 13 [accessing Facebook],” he told Australia’s Federal Parliament’s cyber-safety committee: Facebook removes 20,000 people a day, people who are underage."

While the social networking site had mechanisms to detect liars, Mr Thompson said: "It’s not perfect".

While these numbers may seem impressive, keep in mind the social network has 600 million members worldwide.

So if your child is under 13, don’t be surprised if their Facebook profile suddenly disappears – the company has removed it.