Roblox will ban kids under 13 from ‘social hangouts’

CALIFORNIA – Roblox Corporation introduced new rules preventing kids under 13 from accessing online games intended just for socialising and from making some kinds of virtual content, like drawing on digital chalkboards, the latest in a series of child-safety changes at the company.

Roblox games that replicate hangout spaces, like clubs or discussion forums, will be off-limits for pre-teens, the company said on Nov 6.

Roblox is also restricting their access to games that are not rated for content. One of its more popular video-game categories, which involve role-playing as police officers or race-car drivers, will remain accessible. 

The new rules go into effect on Nov 18, the company said in an online post. They come after criticism of the company’s child safety record.

Roblox sent an e-mail to parents in October explaining that users under the age of 13 will need parental permission to access certain Roblox chat features.

Kids under nine will also need permission to play games with moderate violence or crude humour, according to the e-mail.

“We’re constantly strengthening our safety systems and policies,” the company said in an e-mail on Nov 6. “It’s important to know that at Roblox, we’re constantly innovating safety and we’ll never stop.”

Roblox’s child protection policies have come under fire following a July Bloomberg Businessweek investigation. Since 2018, US police have arrested more than two dozen people accused of abusing or abducting victims they met or groomed on Roblox.

Current and former Roblox employees speaking with Businessweek said monitoring the company’s nearly 90 million daily users is a difficult task. Roughly 40 per cent of those users are under 13.

Shortly after the Businessweek investigation, short seller Hindenburg Research published a report alleging Roblox does not do enough to stop child predators from accessing the platform. The company said it “totally rejected” the claims made in the Hindenburg report. BLOOMBERG