David Bridges
Important Update: Recently, some Page administrators received an erroneous alert from Meta, prompting them to confirm that their Page is not designed for children below the age of 13.
Last week, renowned Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith shared a screenshot of the alert she encountered on her Facebook Page, highlighting the issue faced by many.
The alert notice, as depicted, indicates that Meta was seeking clarification on whether Smith’s Page was targeting a young audience, raising concerns about compliance with their policies.
The alert message states:
“We’re asking Pages like yours to confirm by Sep 30 that they aren’t meant for children under 13”
By clicking through the alert, users were presented with additional information regarding the verification process, highlighting the importance of ensuring that content adheres to the platform’s guidelines.
The intention behind this process appears to be to obtain explicit confirmation from Page owners that their content is not directed at minors. This initiative aims to empower Meta’s enforcement capabilities, allowing them to remove Pages that breach these guidelines, thereby enhancing safety for children on their platforms.
While this initiative seems beneficial, it is important to note that it is still under development and may not be fully operational yet.
In light of these developments, Meta issued a statement to SMT, addressing the concerns raised:
“We are aware of this bug and have fixed it. We are testing notifications to ensure pages are following our Terms of Use, which prohibit people under the age of 13 from using Facebook. In this case, these notifications were sent incorrectly.”
This clarifies that it was a false alarm, and users should not receive these alerts in the app anymore. However, if you happen to encounter this message or are uncertain about its implications, rest assured that there is no immediate need for concern.
Nevertheless, it seems that Meta is planning to take further steps to confirm compliance in the future. Therefore, if your content is aimed at younger audiences, it might be time to reassess your strategy to ensure adherence to their guidelines.
It’s critical to remember that targeting content towards children under 13 is against Facebook’s rules. Even if children under that age manage to access the platform, content creators must not tailor their material for them, ensuring a safer online environment.
Cameron Steel
Troy Sanders
