No, it is not always illegal to lie about your age, especially right here in the United States. And that could very well be a sigh of relief for many of you out there, thinking that no legal action will be taken against you if you just lie about your age. But that’s not how it works; in actuality, there are some cases or scenarios where it can very well become illegal to lie about your age. Sure, kids can lie about their age online or on any other social media platforms and still get away with it, but when it comes to lying about your age in serious scenarios like applying for a job, creating a valid ID, or anything like that, then no doubt, it is a different matter. So just keep on reading to be sure about it.
What Does Lying About Your Age Actually Mean?
Well, first of all, we shouldn’t even need to describe it, but still, lying about your age means that you want to present yourself as younger or older, depending on the need, like while applying for a job or something like that. And there are lots of reasons why people do that. To give you an instance, a child of 12 may write 13 as their age to open a YouTube account, or a person may add a year or two to gain entry into a club or bar.
When Lying About Your Age Is Usually Not Illegal
See, it is a 100% true that in most cases, if you lie about your age, you will not be charged with a crime. Like, for example, if a child lies about his age in order to create an account on Instagram or Snapchat, the severest punishment that can be imposed is the removal of the account in violation of the platform’s terms of service. That’s pretty much it.
And just going a little bit deeper into the legal aspect, see, in the U.S., rules such as COPPA basically mandate that sites should not gather data from children under 13 years of age unless they have parental consent. Therefore, if a child puts in a false birth year, it is still a violation of the website’s regulations, but not a crime.
When Lying About Your Age Can Become Illegal
Yes, there are cases or scenarios where lying about your age can very well become illegal. How and why? Well, the lie about one’s age becomes a case of law if it is connected to another crime, in particular, something that involves fraud or children in any way.
- When Adults Lie To Contact Minors: The first and more serious one is if an adult pretends to be of a different age in order to talk to or meet a minor offline, that situation may result in the adult being charged with very serious offenses. And it is pretty common than you think. The adult is the one who will still be charged with a crime even if the minor lied about his age because a minor cannot give legal consent.
- When a Minor Lies to an Adult: If a child gives a false statement that they are older, the law continues to shield the child. Usually, the children will not be punished; however, the adult might still be charged in the majority of states. In a lot of areas, “they said they were 18” is not a permissible legal defense.
- Using Fake IDs or Documents: Another big and common example could be in the event that an individual fabricates their age through the use of counterfeit IDs, falsified documents, or modified paperwork, the person may be held liable for offenses such as forgery, identity theft, or fraud. Plain and simple!
