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Britain opts out of EU law setting social media age of consent at 16
Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram will be able to process data of anyone 13 and over after agreement reached
The UK will opt out of European privacy laws that require under-16s to get parents' permission to use Facebook and other social media after a compromise deal on sweeping data protection legislation.
The proposed rules will set the age of consent for internet services that use personal data, including email, social media and apps at 16, instead of 13 as in many countries around the world. As originally planned, it would have meant millions of teenagers requiring permission to use popular internet services including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.
But a compromise reached on Tuesday night will allow individual countries to apply their own laws on the age of consent. The Government said it would maintain current laws allowing those aged 13 and older to use internet services, in line with many other countries around the world.
An amendment inserted into long-awaited data protection rules last week said that "the processing of personal data of a child below the age of 16" would require parental consent, but the final text says that a member state can have this age as low as 13.
"Concerns have been listened to and the UK's age of consent will not be forced to change," said Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope, who led negotiations for the European Conservatives and Reformists group.
Raising the age of consent to 16 would have caused a major headache for internet services and apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google and Twitter, which currently have minimum ages of 13. The technology industry had warned against the proposals, as had internet bullying groups who warned that it could lead to children lying about their age.
Facebook's minimum age has been 13 since 2006, when it was reduced it from 17.
Failure to abide by the laws can mean tough penalties of up to 4 per cent of global turnover. These could mean tens of millions of pounds for the biggest internet companies. The law is due to be voted on in the new year and come into force two years late.