Roblox rolls out safety updates for millions of Aussie kids
“There is no dating. There is no allowance for sexual content, no profanity, and we also don’t allow people to share images and video."
Gaming giant, Roblox, is rolling out major new safety features to reduce adult–child contact on the platform, bring parents a much wanted sigh of relief.
Players of all ages will now be required to use facial recognition technology to access communication and chat features.
The ambitious plan kicked off Wednesday morning, allowing users to voluntarily complete the Facial Age Estimation process.
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"Limiting contact between minors and adults"
Come the first week of December, the process will be compulsory for all Australian users. A global rollout will occur in January.
It’s the first gaming platform to mandate age checks, and with 150 million people logging in daily and more than six billion messages flying across its servers every day, Roblox says the safeguard is essential.
“Our job is to create tools that parents can use and create situations for parents to have conversations with their kids about what they’re doing online,” Chief Safety Officer at Roblox, Matt Kaufman, said
The new system will require users to snap an image of their face and submit it to Roblox, which will then verify their age before granting access to chat features.
Users will then be sorted into one of six groups based on their age range, meaning users will be placed with people who are the same age as them.
The group ranges include under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20 and then over 21s.
“This helps ensure users are able to socialise with others in their age groups safely, while also limiting contact between minors and adults that they do not know,” VP and head of User and Discovery Products at Roblox, Raj Batia, said.
Roblox stresses the system does not identify users but instead uses AI to analyse facial features and estimate age – without storing the image or linking it to identity.
Once the image is processed securely, the data is immediately deleted by its third-party vendor, Persona.
“[We] determine one that you’re a real person, and two, estimate your age, and then we immediately delete the video and image that are taken during that process,” Mr Kaufman said.
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"No silver bullet to safety"
The company insists the update marks a major step toward a safer online experience, one it says will reshape how young people connect on the platform.
“These new systems that we’re creating and launching to do age estimation before somebody gains access to chat, we believe, will make this platform safer and more civil for everybody on the platform,” Mr Kaufman said.
“We want to create age-appropriate and positive experiences for our users to participate in. And we set an extremely high standard for ourselves. And we know that the public expects the same thing from us.”
A new Safety Centre will also be introduced for parents, where they can find resources and clear guidance on how to set up Parental Controls and support their child’s online safety.
The rules are set to get stricter, with less opportunity to share sinister content.
“There is no dating. There is no allowance for sexual content, no profanity, and we also don’t allow people to share images and video when they’re talking to each other,” Mr Kaufman explained.
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Users who choose not to complete the process will still be able to play but will not have access to chat features.
Data shows that the vast majority of its users are children 13 and over.
Many of whom are young Aussies, will be affected by December’s social media ban that will see Australians under 16 to log off.
Social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram will no longer be available for those under 16 to get their hands on.
Roblox will not be part of the black-listed social media sites, but the company is still taking steps forward to ensure safety.
“Safety is something that’s central to what we do on Roblox. It really goes back to the founding of Roblox nearly 20 years ago, where there was a goal of creating a safe and civil place for people to come together,” Mr Kaufman said.
“There is no silver bullet to safety… instead, you have to think about multiple overlapping systems and how they all work together.”
Originally published as Roblox rolls out safety updates for millions of Aussie kids
