By Gavin Boyle
Roblox announced plans to extend the reach of its age-estimation technology to all users by the end of the year to allow the platform to have a general idea of how old every single player is.
“Today, we’re announcing an ambitious plan to expand age estimation to all Roblox users who access our on-platform communication features by the end of this year,” Roblox said in a statement. “Using a combination of facial age estimation technology, ID age verification, and certified parental consent, this process will provide a more accurate measure of a user’s age than simply relying on what someone types in when they create an account.”
“With this information, we’ll also launch new systems designed to limit communication between adults and minors unless they know each other in the real world,” the statement continued. “These added layers of protection will help provide users with access to developmentally appropriate features and content. We hope this move sets a standard that other gaming, social media, and communication platforms follow.”
Related: Will This Roblox Overhaul Actually Protect Young Users?
This update comes as Roblox has worked to overhaul its entire safety system this year to make it more robust and less susceptible to workarounds. The platform began enacting these changes early in the summer, but they have continued to come under scrutiny after stories of abuse, manipulation and exhortation have keep coming out since these updates have rolled out.
In early August, for example, a young girl was abducted by a man posing as her peer who she met through Roblox. Her parents are now suing Roblox for continuing to run a platform that allows situations like this to occur.
Meanwhile, Roblox has upped the stakes as it invited brands to partner with the platform in a streamlined way, allowing them to get games up and running in a matter of hours, rather than in weeks or months. Continued safety concerns, though, could sour brands’ opinions of the site and cause them to pull off of the platform.
“Roblox offers a unique and dynamic platform for our fans to connect with beloved franchises in interactive and personal ways,” said Jenefer Brown, the Executive Vice President and Head of Global Products and Experiences at Lionsgate, one of the brands who has already launched new games on the site. “We’re excited to engage with the Roblox creator community and can’t wait to see the innovative experiences they bring to life with our IP.”
Roblox, however, maintains that its emphasis on safety is nothing new and isn’t from a place of wanting to keep brands happy.
“Obviously we can’t talk about individual conversations that we have with all of our partners, but what I can say about safety is that safety is something that we’re constantly investing in,” Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman told Variety. “We’ve made more than 100 updates to our safety systems this year. They’re constantly changing, and the pace of those changes, sometimes they happen in public, sometimes they’re behind the scenes.”
While requiring all players to undergo age estimation, Roblox needs to make even more changes to its policies if it hopes to actually keep its young users safe from the thousands of bad actors who prey on them through the site.
Read Next: Roblox Isn’t Safe for Your Kids. In Fact, It’s a ‘Pedophile Hellscape’
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