Roblox, the online gaming platform that has been under fire due to child safety concerns, has introduced age-verification software that uses facial scanning to estimate the age of players.
The system is currently voluntary, but by the first week of December it will be a requirement in Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand in order for players to chat with others online. By early January, players in all Roblox markets, including the US, will be required to use the software if they want to engage in chats with other players. Roblox said it has also launched a Safety Center hub with information for parents and parental control tools.
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Roblox says the age-verification system is being put in place to limit contact between adults and children, which has been a chief concern among child-safety advocates.
However, while some experts expressed optimism about Roblox's changes, they disagreed on whether the new features go far enough for the platform and whether Roblox's reputation can be repaired.
How it works
Roblox's new age-verification feature takes a 3D scan of a player's face, using a webcam or a mobile device's camera, to estimate the person's age. Based on that estimate, a player can use online chat with other players in their age group.
In a video about the software, Roblox says it immediately deletes captured images or video after the age check is complete.
The age check is performed by a vendor of Roblox called Persona.
Once they complete the check, players are grouped into the following age categories: under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, or 21 and over. The company said that those under 9 won't be allowed to chat without parental permission. The chats won't be strictly limited to those age groups, necessarily. Roblox said players "can chat only with peers in their group or similar groups, as appropriate."
A representative for Roblox said in an email to CNET that the technology should not be considered facial recognition because it's not being used to identify a particularly person, only to estimate their age.
The company said it's also taking measures such as restricting media sharing among players and using AI to monitor chats.
Ongoing controversy
One of the aims of the launch, which was first announced in the summer, was to address criticism that the platform has not adequately protected underage Roblox players. The criticism comes at a time when Roblox is more popular than ever, having broken its own records this year for the number of players on its platform at the same time. It's estimated to have about 380 million active monthly users.
Roblox is currently facing dozens of lawsuits related to claims of sexual abuse and child exploitation from families of children who played Roblox. It is also the target of investigations or lawsuits from states including Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Kentucky.
Roblox was dealt a setback earlier this month when a California judge declined the company's motion to move one of these suits into private resolution.
The company says its safety features are moving beyond what other game platforms offer to protect minors.
According to a corporate post about the safety features: "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 online streaming platform Twitch is also introducing an age scan feature, but so far only in England.
In response to the Roblox and Twitch changes, Anna Lucas, online safety supervision director at the British regulatory agency Ofcom, said, "We're pleased that children will be better protected from harmful material and predators on Twitch and Roblox. Under the UK's online safety laws, 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."
What's next for Roblox?
Experts CNET spoke with in areas including child privacy and safety, online marketing and tech viewed the steps Roblox is taking as positive, But there's wide disagreement on whether the company is going far enough with its protections.
"Roblox's new age-verification tools are encouraging, but from a parenting standpoint, they're just one part of the safety puzzle," said Dr. Scott Kollins, a clinical psychologist and chief medical officer at Aura, an online safety app. "The real question for families is whether these features meaningfully improve kids' day-to-day experience on the platform. Age verification is a step forward, but children still need guardrails and clear explanations about how online interactions work."
Kollins said that active parenting needs to take place before kids log on to Roblox in addition to the company designing its product with safety in mind.
Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, called the age-verification "a hugely important step" in the direction of making Roblox a safer platform. He said he hoped other online platforms might follow Roblox.
"My only hope is that in the long term, Roblox's age assurance methods become interoperable with other gaming and kid-focused sites and platforms, so parents and kids only have to go through the verification process once," Balkam said.
Like Kollins, Balkam emphasized the importance of parental involvement, since no site is entirely safe.
"Set family rules, use parental controls and have regular conversations with your kids," he said. "So, no, don't ban Roblox, but use their industry-leading tools and keep the lines of communication open and your kids should be able to have a fun and creative time."
Liability and trust
Some experts also view the changes as a way to mitigate the company's reputational damage and address legal challenges.
The age verification is "not a silver bullet," said Paromita Pain, associate professor of media studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.
"Even a very strong safety revamp doesn't erase that record, but it does give Roblox a narrative: 'We heard you, we're now at or above industry standard, so future risk is sharply reduced,' " Pain said.
The moves, Pain said, could rebuild trust, but many parents will see age checks as coming too late. Pain said that the company should adopt independent audits of child-safety practices, make its parental and teen controls stricter by default and commit to "safety by design" by making systemwide changes on private servers and environment designs.
The current changes won't fix things for Roblox, she said. "Only sustained, independently-verifiable changes—and probably some large settlements—will do that."
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