Australia mulls Facebook 18+

Australia on Thursday said it was considering upping the restrictions placed on Facebook, giving parents access to their children's pages and requiring proof of age at sign-up.

The social networking site has 10 million Australian users -- almost half the population -- and requires people to state at sign-up that they are at least 13, but there is currently no way to formally enforce the age limit.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said some parents had complained the age limit was too young and that content "being put up by their own children" could be "prejudicial to their future career prospects."

A number of proposals were being considered by lawmakers, he said, including mandating a sign-up age of 18 years for Australian users and giving parents the over-riding ability to access their children's Facebook pages.

"We most certainly could regulate any Australian entity so that we can specify that the age of consent was 18," he told reporters.

(c) 2011 AFP