By India McCarty
Roblox promises increased safety measures for kids on their platform amid dozens of ongoing lawsuits claiming the company does not do enough to protect children from predators.
“Today we’re announcing what we believe will become the gold standard for safety and civility on the internet, and really a first among gaming platforms,” Roblox CEO David Baszucki told CBS MORNINGS.
He explained that the gaming platform will start requiring players to use AI-powered facial age-estimation technology to help verify their age, as well as ID-based age verification and confirmed parental consent for minors.
Related: Recent Lawsuit Proves Once Again That Roblox Isn’t Safe for Kids
“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,” a statement from Roblox on the new safety features explained. “This initiative is designed to provide even more age-appropriate experiences for all users, which we believe will improve interactions for users of all ages on Roblox.”
When asked about the potential dangers for children sending photos of themselves to Roblox, Baszucki made it clear that the company is “not storing these images,” explaining they “are deleted soon after [Roblox] process[es] them.”
Roblox will start enforcing these new safety measures in select markets, including Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, before bringing the system to other countries in January.
These new safety features come as Roblox faces accusations from dozens of families, as well as attorneys general in Kentucky and Louisiana, claiming they aren’t doing enough to protect minors from inappropriate interactions with adults.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called Roblox “breeding grounds for predators,” adding, “We will stop at nothing in the fight to protect Florida’s children, and companies that expose them to harm will be held accountable.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman made similar comments upon announcing the state’s lawsuit against Roblox, saying, “For years, Roblox has ignored this crisis so it could continue turning a profit. Our responsibility is to protect Kentucky children from online exploitation by these predators and the companies like Roblox that knowingly facilitate it.”
In response to these allegations, chief safety officer at Roblox Matt Kaufman said, “We have safety systems that are in place by default and a lot of these situations that you’re talking about, like extortion, people sharing, graphic images, they simply cannot happen on Roblox.”
“We report when we see signs of something that doesn’t look safe,” he continued. “Any platform of our size…it draws bad actors and our job is to do the best that we possibly can to prevent anything from happening on our platform and to report those situations as quickly as possible.”
Roblox’s new safety measures are commendable, but time will tell if the gaming platform’s efforts to make the site safer for kids will truly pay off.
Read Next: Why Experts Call Roblox a ‘Hunting Ground’ for Predators
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