When Facebook originally went from a private college social network to the mainstream it was clear, you had to b 13 years old to have your own account. That was circumvented by many tweens throughout the years, some saying they were 103 rather than saying they were under 13. Over the last few years there were rumors that they opened the social network up to ten year olds, but on their FAQ it still clearly states you must be 13. 

There are a lot of parent managed accounts for younger kids, even as young as new born. The social network doesn’t seem to have a problem with that.

However they continually hear that younger kids want Facebook accounts. They also hear from parents of teenagers on Facebook that they want more parental control functionality.

A patent originally filed in 2012 that was revealed late last week shows that Facebook is looking to patent a system that will give parents more control and allow younger kids access to the network. The technology Facebook is patenting is in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The law regulates how websites and apps can collect data from children younger than 13 and calls for “verifiable parental consent”.

This could be significant for Facebook, as the biggest news throughout 2013 in regards to Facebook was that they were losing their core teenage audience. Perhaps by opening Facebook up to younger kids, they will be able to increase their monthly active user base. Teenagers have reportedly turned to Instagram, Vine, SnapChat and Twitter, rather than Facebook.

Users under 13 are nothing new to Facebook though. It’s very easy to lie about a birthday when signing up for a Facebook account. In fact, AdAge reports that a Consumer Reports survey showed that over 5.6 million kids under the age of 13 had their own Facebook account.

The patent covers technology that would allow a child’s parent or guardian to supervise and approve or deny friend requests, look at everything on their child’s timeline and edit, delete postings. It’s also believed that the technology would allow these users to receive ads specifically targeted towards them a la NickJr or Disney’s services for younger kids.

Just why is it necessary for Facebook to patent parental controls? Adage suggests that Facebook wants to corner the social market at the youngest possible age. An extremely large active user base is the backbone of Facebook’s business model.

“If they’re able to be the first to market and exclude other companies from creating similar methodologies, that’s a good way to capture market share,” said Daliah Saper, an intellectual-property attorney in Chicago.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken an educational stance on having younger children on the social network. “My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age.” he said in 2011. Now, in 2014 Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated hundreds of millions of dollars for education in New Jersey and late last week, Silicon Valley.

There’s no time frame set as to when Facebook would incorporate this technology or younger kids, but it does look like it’s back on their radar now.