Facebook Headquarters, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California. Photo: achinthamb/Shutterstock.com

Parent and consumer advocacy groups claim Facebook allowed children to make expensive in-app purchases on the platform without parental consent in a complaint filed to the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday.

Facebook isn't the first tech company to be hit with such a complaint; Apple Inc., Google and Amazon.com Inc. all previously faced FTC action following similar allegations. Lawyers and advocacy group leaders said there are ways tech companies can make online gaming safer for children and ensure their platforms comply with relevant data protection laws.

“Part of the problem was that after the initial credit card was approved, there was no further approval needed, so that kids could rack up all sorts of charges and the parents wouldn't know  until those charges showed up on the credit card,” said Josh Golin, the executive director for Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, which signed onto the complaint against Facebook. “Really you should be getting parental consent before each credit card purchase.”

He said platforms shouldn't offer games with in-app purchases in children's sections, or should notify parents about the risks involved. That's because children may not know they're purchasing things in the game with real money, he said, or may feel they have to spend money in the game to progress.

Games that use loot crates, which allow players to pay extra for a chance to win valuable in-game items, have separately come under scrutiny from critics who say they're a form of gambling that can hook minors. State Rep. Chris Lee of Hawaii called for increased regulation of loot crates last year.

Michelle Cohen, a member attorney at Ifrah Law, said platforms that do wish to include games with in-app purchases could cap the amount children can spend in the game and notify parents when charges hit a set limit.

“I don't think the parents are always upset that [their child] bought something. It's the fact that the charges got out of control,” Cohen said. “So to me it would make sense to be setting a limit, and if you're going to let it go above, have some mobile verification.”

Thursday's complaint also alleged Facebook could have violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Angela Campbell, a Georgetown Law professor and the director of the Institute for Public Representation Communications and Technology Clinic, said if Facebook knowingly collected children's data without adult consent, COPPA violations could come into play.

“If a kid has their own account and they lied about their age to get it, [the company] would have to kick them off Facebook,” Campbell said. “And if it's someone who is using a parent's account or grandparent's account, at the very least, they would have to delete any data that they collected from that child.”

Facebook users are supposed to be at least 13 years old, but Campbell noted that the platform offers games appealing to younger children.

According to the complaint, parents notified Facebook that their children used Facebook to play games. The Menlo Park, California-based company allegedly often denied parents' requests for purchases made by children. Facebook said it offers education for users on in-app purchases and provides pathways for refunds.

“We want people to have safe and enjoyable gaming experiences on Facebook, so providing resources to seek refunds for unauthorized purchases made in games is an important part of the platform,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement Thursday. “We have in place mechanisms to prevent fraud at the time of purchase and we offer people the option to dispute purchases and seek refunds.”

The FTC confirmed it received the complaint against Facebook but declined to comment further.

Read More:

What's Inside the Loot Box? It Could Be Gaming's Next Big Problem.

Facebook's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year