Do ‘much, much more’ on age verification, social media apps told

A number of tech firms have recently announced measures to make social media safer for young people, such as Instagram launching “teen accounts.”

However, when BBC news spoke to a group of teenagers at Rosshall Academy, in Glasgow, all of them said they used adult ages for their social media accounts

“It’s just so easy to lie about your age”, said Myley, 15.

“I put in my actual birthday – like day and month – but when it gets to the year, I’ll just scroll ten years back,” she added.

“There’s no verification, they don’t ask for ID, they don’t ask for anything,” added another pupil, Haniya, who is also 15.

BBC News was also unchallenged when it set up accounts, using newly created email addresses, on a number of major platforms.

A user age over 18 was entered without any proof being requested.

Ofcom says this will have to change in the coming months.

“Self-declaration of a child’s age is clearly completely insufficient,” said Mr Mccrae.