New Roblox rules gives reassurance to parents

The change is part of a huge overhaul of its safety systems and controls - and it's about bloody time!

Roblox is one of the most popular games among teens and young children in Australia.

However, with the ability to communicate with others on the platform regardless of age and without restrictions, it has come under fire consistently from parents globally, deeming it unsafe, and inappropriate.

It’s because of this that Roblox is introducing significant updates to its safety systems and parental controls - including blocking those under 13 from messaging others online.

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Roblox entices children to talk to strangers. Image: Supplied

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The changes

Matt Kaufman, Chief Safety Officer, made the announcement this week that Roblox would be making some significant changes to make their platform to make it safer for some of its youngest users.

The big hitter here is that it’s going to be making changes to how children under age 13 can communicate on the platform.

Though he said that connecting with others is core to the Roblox experience, Kaufman also acknowledged that safety is of the utmost importance.

As a result of this, users under the age of 13 will no longer be able to message others on Roblox outside of games or experiences. There will also be a built-in setting introduced limiting users under 13 to public broadcast messages only within a game or experience.

By default, users under 13 will not be able to directly message others - however parents can change this setting in Parental Controls.

Want to know why Roblox is not ideal for kids? Hear it from an ex-detective on Mum Club podcast (below). Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

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Parents have the power

As part of the updates, there will also be a huge overhaul to parental controls in the game.

As of this week, Roblox has introduced remote management, allowing parents to review and monitor their child’s activity even when they aren’t physically together, once theirs and their child’s Roblox accounts are linked.

Parents will also be able to see their child’s average screen time over the past week, and their child’s friends list. From here, parents and caregivers can set daily screen-time limits, and once reached, their child cannot access Roblox until the next day.

Limits and labels

The final big change as part of this update is around their content labels on experiences.

Rather than gauging appropriateness by age, they’re making categories like minimal, mild, moderate and restricted - allowing parents to select what they’re most comfortable with their child seeing and doing on the platform.

By default, children under the age of 9 will only be privy to “Minimal” or “Mild” content, and can access “Moderate” content only with parental consent.

What happens now?

All of these changes are being put in place currently, however more are set to be rolled out into 2025.

“While there is no “perfect” when it comes to online safety, our overall approach is systematic and thoughtful. We regularly update our policies and systems to help keep children safe on Roblox—regardless of whether parents elect to use our parental controls,” Kaufman said.

“Our goal is to make Roblox the safest and most civil online platform possible because it is the right thing for children, their parents and caregivers, our investors, and our company.”

Originally published as New Roblox rules gives reassurance to parents