Lying to a website

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estopraesidium

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If a site has a minimum age, and a person who is below that age checks the box indicating his age is over the minimum, is this a sin? If the person met people through this site, is he obligated to stop corresponding online with them?
 
Also, are rules on a website morally binding? If a site says we must be 18 to view it, are we morally required to observe that and not view it if we are under 18?

Edit: If I can give people the right to quote my posts (both the first one in this topic and the second, and all subsequent posts which I post) in replies, I hereby do. If I can’t, well, I guess I don’t.
 
The age limit is likely there for a reason… a lie is a lie. I had a similar situation with my daughter regarding Facebook. Her mother created an account for her when she was underage (the age limit is 13… for a reason) and then deleted the account after I talked it over with her.
 
But is lying to a machine, program, computer, server, etc. still a sin? Would not the sin of lying be reserved to lying to actual people?

Aside from that, though, what should a person do if he met people through this site, for which he checked a box indicating that he was over 18 to register? May he still talk to them?
 
The person who makes the application is a person. The people who operate the website are people. A computer does not produce things by itself; it is only a machine, used by people. It is the means of transmission. There is no ‘machine’ being lied to, as the computer only makes it possible for people to use websites.

If an individual stole someone’s bank card information, using a computer, that would still be theft, even if the criminal never met the victim.

So yes, a lie using a computer is still a lie.
 
Yes, it is a sin. The website has reasons for wanting 18 or older and you should abide by that. If you lied about that, it’s easy to lie about the next thing, and on and on and soon lying becomes easier and easier. Additionally, once the lie is revealed (and sooner or later it is) you will be banned from the site, probably permanently. Don’t put yourself in that situation.

We need to hold ourselves to a certain standard, even if we don’t think the rules are fair. I’m assuming you’re under 18. Are you wanting to get online to a Catholic dating site?
 
Actually you would be lying to the owner of the forum. The owner has decided to make his product (i.e. the forum) available to only those who are 18 and older. It doesn’t even matter if his reasons are just. It’s his forum; he may cater it to whom he wishes. 🙂

As-Salamu alaykum,
zekariya
 
Yes. There are plenty of Catholic online forums available on the internet. Find one that you are able to participate in without breaking rules, and participate in that. Be respectful to the owner of the site in the fact that he has set guidelines that you currently don’t qualify for.

👍
 
I don’t think you have to quit the website to rectify the situation.

Just get parental permission. That’s really the big thing with these sites.
 
If the person indeed must stop going to that site, is obligated to stop talking to the people he met (through a medium which is not affiliated with that site) from that site? I ask this because the person should be sorry for lying, I assume (if this is really lying and a sin), so would that require him to wish he never lied and act as if he never did by not being able to talk to these people he met?

On the other hand, could he be sorry simply that he lied (if this is really lying) to meet these people and then still talk to them, because actually meeting them is not wrong but the wrong, if there is one, only comes from the lying, if it is lying? The issue is because it would be very difficult to have met the people without joining the site and checking the box to confirm age.
 
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