Roblox Defends Age Verification System Amidst Parental Concerns
Roblox, the popular gaming platform with 144 million daily users globally, is rolling out an expanded child safety system. This initiative introduces age-specific accounts, 'Roblox Kids' and 'Roblox Select', which will determine a user's access to content, features, and communication capabilities based on an estimated age.
Concerns Over Age Estimation Accuracy
Parents have voiced concerns, telling the BBC that some children have been incorrectly identified as adults during the age-check process. This, they argue, can inadvertently diminish parental controls and expose younger users to less protected versions of the service.
Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer, acknowledged that while the age-estimation system, which incorporates facial analysis, is used by tens of millions daily and typically estimates age within 1.4 years for under-18s, it is a more reliable alternative to self-declared ages. He stated that users often provide false information to gain access.
Enhanced Safety Measures
The new system extends existing age checks for chat features, designed to limit communication between different age groups, to entire account types. Users who do not complete an age check will be restricted to children's content and barred from communication. This follows recent concerns, including a case where a 14-year-old girl was groomed on the platform.
Roblox uses a variety of signals to determine content suitability for under-16s, including game longevity and developer history. Games with social or free-form elements will not be default-available on Kids and Select accounts. While some developers advocate constant parental monitoring, Kaufman maintains Roblox is doing more than other platforms.
Roblox offers avenues for correcting age-check errors, including appeals and ID verification, and may prompt re-verification if behaviour is inconsistent with estimated age. Parents will also gain the ability to block games and manage direct messages for children under 16.
Expert Commentary and Regulatory Context
Professor Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics commended Roblox's response as 'encouraging' but highlighted 'mounting evidence its platform continues to pose real risks to children's safety'. She emphasised the need for independent confirmation of moderation effectiveness, help systems, and assurance that age checks are not used for commercial profiling.
These changes coincide with increasing global pressure on tech firms to safeguard children online, exemplified by the UK's Online Safety Act and various international proposals to restrict social media for under-16s. Kaufman reiterated that Roblox's prominence necessitates intense scrutiny and demands for stronger protections.
