Roblox blocks children from chatting to adult strangers

However, some parents and campaigners warned children could still encounter inappropriate content or talk to adults on the platform despite existing safety measures.

Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC, said young people were exposed to "unacceptable risks" on Roblox, "leaving many vulnerable to harm and online abuse."

The charity welcomed the platform's efforts but called on Roblox to "ensure they deliver change for children in practice and prevent adult perpetrators from targeting and manipulating young users."

The platform averaged more than 80 million daily players in 2024, about 40% of them under the age of 13.

The UK's Online Safety Act has strict laws for all tech firms specifically aimed at protecting children from online harms.

The communications regulator, Ofcom, is responsible for enforcing the act.

Anna Lucas, online safety supervision director at Ofcom, said she was pleased about the new age checking measures.

"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."

In the US, Roblox is facing lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana over child safety concerns.

Roblox says it will become the first large gaming platform to make facial age verification a requirement for accessing the chat features.

Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer for Roblox, told a press briefing the age estimation technology is "pretty accurate."

He claimed the system can make close estimates of "within one to two years" bracket for users aged between five and 25.

Currently it can be used voluntarily by anyone in the world.

Mandatory checks will begin in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in early December before being extended worldwide in January.

Age checks will use facial estimation technology through the device's camera inside the Roblox app, to estimate a user's age.

Images are processed by an external provider and deleted immediately after the check has been completed, according to the company.

Roblox says parents will still be able to manage their child's account, including updating a child's age once verification is complete.

The platform already prohibits image and video sharing in chats and heavily restricts links to external sites.

The company argues the new system will offer more "age-appropriate" experiences across the platform, and says it expects other firms to adopt similar methods.

The changes come as campaign groups ParentsTogether Action and UltraViolet stage a first-of-its-kind virtual protest inside Roblox.

The group will deliver a digital petition, which has been signed by more than 12,000 people, demanding the platform adopt stronger child-safety measures.

It calls for sweeping changes, declaring, "Roblox must stop being a playground for predators."

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