Almost half of British children aged 9 to 12 are using social networking sites, despite minimum age limits, a report claims.

19 April 2011 Last updated at 14:01 GMT

One in five has a Facebook page, even though rules say they must be 13, according to EUKidsOnline. The report’s authors suggest that removing such requirements would make it easier to monitor online behaviour. However, children’s charity Kidscape criticised the idea and warned it would lead to more cyber bullying. The research, carried out by the London School of Economics for the European Commission, was based on a survey of 25,000 young people – aged between nine and 16 – from across Europe.

Source: BBC NEWS