Why is the age limit for Facebook 13?

[dewcoons]

Because 13 is often the "magic number" that law enforcement agencies use to separate between "young children" and "older children". Things that you could do with someone 13 or over you can not do with a child who is younger without facing (more) severe penalties.

Facebook (and most other web sites) do not want to take a chance that someone might use their site to try to abuse or kidnap a young child under 13. The legal consequences for Facebook could be very serious. So they restrict anyone under that age from having an account. It protects both Face book and the young child.

Besides, a child under that age does not need to be spending their time on line. They need to be having real world social interaction. And they need to be supervisors because they are not yet mature enough to know what they are doing when they are on line.