Roblox implements stricter child safety policies following public criticism

Roblox has announced stricter safety policies for young users on the online gaming platform. The new changes will add features that help parents monitor and control their children’s activities.

The new policies came about after Roblox was faced with multiple reports highlighting child exploitation and other safety concerns.

Roblox is an online gaming platform that was released in 2006. It allows its users to either play games or create games that they can play with their friends. The platform has grown in popularity over the years, boasting 79.5 million daily users and 2.5 million developers, many of whom are children in their preteen and teenage years. 

Roblox introduces stricter child protection policies

The gaming platform announced the rollout of new stricter policies effective November through emails sent to parents. The new policies are set to target preteens to ensure a safer and more regulated experience on the online gaming platform.

According to the email, Roblox will introduce Roblox accounts with parental privileges, allowing parents to view and control children’s accounts from their devices. The parental accounts will also enable parents to view their children’s information, including their friends list and their daily screen time. 

The Roblox policy update will allow parents to set up 2-factor account authentication.

Roblox also explained that it is phasing out the need for parents to set a parent PIN, receive account-related notifications to their parental email, or use Account Restrictions. In place of the former system, the new policies will need young gamers on the platform to use an account with parent privileges. The gaming platform added that the settings set using the PIN will be left unchanged. Parents can also use their verified parental emails for child accounts to recover Roblox accounts. 

The gaming platform also announced that it is changing the default settings for accounts belonging to users under the age of 13. The changes will require children to get parental permission to access some chat features.

“Moderate” content will also be restricted for children under 9 and will only be accessible once given parental permission. Roblox stated that it will provide parents with more information on the updates once it implements them in November. 

Roblox caves to mounting pressure from accusations

The gaming platform’s new child safety policies are stipulated to stem from the accusations levied against the online gaming platform.

A Hindenburg report on the platform was released on October 8th, labeling Roblox as a “pedophile hellscape for children.” The report identified games where players could solicit sexual favors from children, share nude photos of children, play games with displays showing hate speech, and even murder.

Many parents found the news disturbing, leading to an outcry for better child protection on Roblox. 

In July, Bloomberg raised similar concerns by publishing a report on child safety violations on the online gaming platform. The report identified child predators on the platform, providing evidence of them paying for sexual acts using in-game currency “Robux.”

Some cases reported predators soliciting child porn from the children on the platform, as evidenced by Arnold Castillo’s case. Months later, Roblox announced updates to address these children’s safety concerns. However, parents are still calling for more stringent measures, stating that the platform is still unsafe for children.