Facebook has told parents that if they are worried about their kids getting onto Facebook they should not let them.

Simon Milner, policy director for Facebook in the UK and Ireland, was joined by Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology of the London School of Economics, in warning that parents were flouting the site’s age restrictions by either helping their children create accounts or failing to be firm with them and stop them from signing up.

Then right-wing rags like the Daily Mail were penning horror stories about  youngsters being  exposed to porn and online grooming by sex pests. Facebook sets a minimum membership age of 13, but Milner said there was no way to stop youngsters lying about how old they are.

Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Professor Livingstone, who researches children and internet use, told  parents  that they needed to be stricter and keep their kids off Facebook until they were old enough. Facebook points out that it cannot make every user prove their age as it would hack off privacy advocates.