Roblox bolsters child safety measures after abuse reports

Characters on the Roblox platform. Photo / Jason Henry, The New York Times

Gaming platform Roblox announced major safety upgrades on Monday, introducing remote parental controls and restricting communication features for users under 13.

Roblox is a popular online gaming and creation platform founded in 2004 that allows users to play, create, and share virtual experiences.

Children using Roblox can choose from games and “experiences” created by users, and play with online users who are able to chat in real time.

Roblox attracts millions of users worldwide, particularly among children and teenagers, but recent research and media reports have said children are inadequately protected from scammers and bad actors on the site.

A report by Bloomberg last year said at least 24 people had been arrested since 2018 for grooming, abusing or abducting victims met through the platform.

It described how anonymous accounts made tracking predators difficult on the site and moderation teams were struggling with its increasing popularity.

The new measures allow parents to monitor their children’s activities and screen time much more closely from their own devices.

Under-13 users will no longer have access to direct messaging outside games, and will be limited to public broadcast messages within experiences by default, the company said.

“Safety is and always has been foundational to everything we do at Roblox,” said Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer.

The platform is also abandoning age-based content ratings in favour of content-type labels. Users under the age of 9 will be restricted to “minimal” or “mild” content unless parents approve access to “moderate” content.

“These updates should provide parents greater clarity to make informed decisions about what is appropriate for their child,” the company said.

The US-based Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) endorsed the changes. “Roblox is taking significant steps toward building a safer digital environment,” said FOSI CEO Stephen Balkam.

Full implementation of the new rules is expected by 2025, the company said.

© Agence France-Presse