Roblox announced a new facial age check feature that is required in order to access the game’s chat.
In a press release announcing the feature, the company stated that it “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. This innovation supports age-based chat and limits communication between minors and adults.”
The company elaborated, “We’re unlocking chat and age-appropriate experiences for our users by requiring them to complete an age check through Facial Age Estimation or ID verification. Once the age check is complete, users will only be allowed to chat with others in similar age groups, unless they become Trusted Connections with people they know.”
“The Facial Age Estimation process is fast, secure, and completed through the Roblox app using the device’s camera,” the company continued. “Images and video for age checks completed through Facial Age Estimation are processed by our vendor, Persona, and deleted immediately after processing. Age checks are completely optional; however, features like chat will not be accessible unless the age check is complete.”
Additionally, the company detailed that it will be rolling out and implementing age-based chat. The company explained, “As part of our ongoing consultations with child development experts, we’ve defined common-sense limits on who can chat together on Roblox. After users complete the age check process, we will inform them of their assigned age group: Under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21+. Users will be able to chat with those in their own age group and similar age groups, as appropriate.”
“We recognize the importance of family members playing, learning, and communicating directly with their child on Roblox. Through Trusted Connections, age-checked users 13 or older can chat freely with people they know,” the company reiterated. “. We’ll soon roll out dedicated solutions for direct chat between parents and children younger than 13 or between siblings in different age groups.”
On top of this facial age check to access chat, the company also announced it will “require age checks to access social media links on user profiles, communities and experience details pages.”
“These new requirements will help us provide positive, age-appropriate experiences for all users on Roblox,” the company concluded. “We invite others in the industry to join us and follow our comprehensive approach to help make the entire online world safer for children and teens.”
These new features come in the wake of the company being sued by the state of Kentucky. The complaint states, “[Roblox] repeatedly assure parents and the public that Roblox is safe for its user base of minors, but in reality Roblox is a hunting ground for child predators, and [Roblox] fail[s] to implement basic safety controls to protect child users. Moreover, despite their detailed knowledge of the dangers lurking on the Roblox platform, [Roblox] knowingly fails—through affirmative misrepresentation and selective omission—to inform Roblox users and their parents about the dangers inherent on the Roblox platform.”
It goes on to outline the dangers lurking within Roblox including “child predators acting alone to international organizations—linked with terrorist groups—that are dedicated to child sexual exploitation and self-harm.”
Additionally, it notes that Roblox could easily put a stop to this, but it doesn’t, “Defendants could, at any moment, place barriers between their unwitting child user base (and the parents and guardians of that user base) and the monstrous criminals lurking on Roblox. Most obviously, Roblox could accomplish this by requiring informed parental consent prior to allowing minor children to establish an account on Roblox. Instead, Roblox continues— as it has done for almost two decades—to allow children to create accounts without any form of identity verification, nor with any indicia of parental consent.”
The state is suing Roblox for:
Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices in Violation of Kentucky Consumer Protection Act
Unjust Enrichment
Negligence
Negligence - Failure To Warn
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""Instead, Roblox continues— as it has done for almost two decades—to allow children to create accounts without any form of identity verification, nor with any indicia of parental consent"
The parents technically consented by stupidly letting the children into a dangerous situation.
The solution isn't better age verification; the solution is better parenting.
Expecting the TV or computer to baby-sit your children unsupervised while you're off doing something else is rather poor parenting, in my opinion.