Roblox to introduce mandatory facial age checks
Roblox will prohibit children from chatting with adult strangers under a new global safety policy introducing mandatory age verification for all chat users, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
The system will launch in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in December, before expanding worldwide in January.
The company has faced increasing criticism and several lawsuits in US states including Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana over allegations of inadequate child-protection practices. Regulators in the UK and campaign groups internationally have also pressured the platform to close loopholes that allowed minors to encounter inappropriate content and communicate with adults.
Dave Baszucki, chief executive of Roblox, earlier commented that parents concerned about safety “should not let their children be on it”. The NSPCC’s policy manager for child safety online, Rani Govender, said young users were exposed to “unacceptable risks”, welcoming the new measures but insisting Roblox must “ensure they deliver change for children in practice”.
The new verification system uses facial age-estimation technology to assign users to age groups, from under nine to 21+. “The technology is pretty accurate,” said Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer for Roblox, noting estimates fall “within one to two years” for users aged five to 25. Chatting will be restricted to peers of similar age unless users are added as “trusted connections”.
Roblox said it will require compulsory facial recognition or ID checks for access to chat features, aiming to prevent under-nines from messaging without parental consent and to curb interactions between adults and minors.
“Roblox is the first online gaming or communication platform to require facial age checks to access chat, establishing what we believe will become a new industry standard,” the company said in a statement.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency published an analytical piece noting that many people still perceive Roblox as a simple, blocky children’s game, despite the platform having evolved into a vast ecosystem of user-created worlds. The article examined the scale and appeal of this digital environment that now captivates millions of young players worldwide.
