Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sparked a minor controversy by suggesting that children under 13 should be allowed to join social networking sites. The thing is, there is nothing stopping Facebook from allowing children to join now...except Facebook.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sparked a minor controversy by suggesting that children under 13 should be allowed to join social networking sites. The thing is, there is nothing stopping Facebook from allowing children to join now...except Facebook.Kids Under 13 Are Already Allowed on Facebook

Zuckerberg said he wants younger kids to be allowed on social networking sites like Facebook. Currently, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) mandates that websites that collect information about users (like Facebook does) aren't allowed to sign on anyone under the age of 13. But Zuckerberg is determined to change this.

"That will be a fight we take on at some point," Zuckerberg said at an education forum this week, according to Fortune magazine. "My philosophy is that for education, you need to start at a really, really young age."In a survey this month, Consumer Reports magazine found that despite Facebook's policy, as many as 7.5 million children younger than 13 had active accounts.Consumers Union urges stronger Facebook protections for children