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Roblox blocks children from chatting to adult strangers
Roblox blocks children from chatting to adult strangers
Children will no longer be able to chat to adult strangers on Roblox - one of the world's most popular gaming platforms - as part of an expansion of its safety measures.
Mandatory age checks will be introduced for accounts using chat features, starting in December for Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, then the rest of the globe from January.
Roblox has faced criticism for allowing youngsters to access inappropriate content and communicate with adults, and is being sued over child safety concerns in several US states.
The launch also comes just ahead of Australia's social media ban for under-16s - the government is under pressure to include gaming platforms such as Roblox.
In March, the chief executive of Roblox Dave Baszucki told the BBC that parents who were worried about the service "should not let their children be on [it]".
However, some parents and campaigners warned children could still encounter inappropriate content or talk to adults on the platform despite existing safety measures.
Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC, said young people were exposed to "unacceptable risks" on Roblox, "leaving many vulnerable to harm and online abuse."
The charity welcomed the platform's efforts but called on Roblox to "ensure they deliver change for children in practice and prevent adult perpetrators from targeting and manipulating young users."
The platform averaged more than 80 million daily players in 2024, about 40% of them under the age of 13.
The UK's Online Safety Act has strict laws for all tech firms specifically aimed at protecting children from online harms.
The communications regulator, Ofcom, is responsible for enforcing the act.
Anna Lucas, online safety supervision director at Ofcom, said she was pleased about the new age checking measures.
Platforms must now take steps to keep kids safe, and we're ensuring they meet their responsibilities. There's more to do, but change is happening.
In the US, Roblox is facing lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana over child safety concerns.
Roblox says it will become the first large gaming platform to make facial age verification a requirement for accessing the chat features.
Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer for Roblox, told a press briefing the age estimation technology is "pretty accurate."
He claimed the system can make close estimates of "within one to two years" bracket for users aged between five and 25.
Currently it can be used voluntarily by anyone in the world.
Users who complete the process will be placed into age groups: under nine, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20 and 21+.
Players can only chat with others in similar age ranges, unless they add someone as a "trusted connection", which is a feature for people they know.
Under-13s will still be blocked from private messages and certain chats unless a parent gives permission.
The new approach follows concerns about adults contacting younger players.
In a BBC test earlier this year, it was possible for a 27-year-old user and a 15-year-old user on unlinked devices to exchange messages.
At the time, Roblox said attempts to circumvent its rules often involved users trying to take conversations to different platforms.
Age checks will use facial estimation technology through the device's camera inside the Roblox app, to estimate a user's age.
Images are processed by an external provider and deleted immediately after the check has been completed, according to the company.
Roblox says parents will still be able to manage their child's account, including updating a child's age once verification is complete.
The platform already prohibits image and video sharing in chats and heavily restricts links to external sites.
The company argues the new system will offer more "age-appropriate" experiences across the platform, and says it expects other firms to adopt similar methods.
The changes come as campaign groups ParentsTogether Action and UltraViolet stage a first-of-its-kind virtual protest inside Roblox.
The group will deliver a digital petition, which has been signed by more than 12,000 people, demanding the platform adopt stronger child-safety measures.
It calls for sweeping changes, declaring, "Roblox must stop being a playground for predators."
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Source: BBC
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