Gaming Platform Faces Legal Action Over Predator Concerns
The popular online gaming platform Roblox is implementing significant safety changes after facing multiple lawsuits alleging its design made children vulnerable to sexual predators. From next month, the platform will block children from communicating with adult strangers and much older teenagers through new facial age estimation technology.
Roblox, which boasts 150 million daily players enjoying games like Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot, has been hit with legal claims that its system design made "children easy prey for paedophiles". The company now plans to become the first major gaming platform to require age checks for communication between users.
New Age Verification System Details
The facial age estimation system will categorise users into specific age groups: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21+. Children will only be able to chat with others in their own age group or similar ones. For example, a child estimated to be 12 years old would only communicate with users under 16.
Roblox has compared the new system to school cohorts, separating users into elementary, middle school and high school equivalent groups. The company emphasised that images and video used for age checks will not be stored to protect user privacy.
Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer, stated: "We see it as a way for our users to have more trust in who the other people they are talking with in these games. And so we see it as a real opportunity to build confidence in the platform and build confidence amongst our users."
Disturbing Legal Cases Emerge
The safety changes come amid numerous lawsuits filed against Roblox, with attorneys representing families alleging "systemic predation of minors" on the platform. Florida lawyer Matt Dolman has filed 28 suits against the company, which experienced massive growth during the pandemic.
One recent case filed in Nevada district court involves a 13-year-old girl from Washoe County who was allegedly targeted by a "dangerous child predator" posing as a child. The predator reportedly built a false emotional connection with the victim, manipulated her into sharing her mobile number, and then coerced her into sending explicit pictures and videos.
The legal claim argues that proper age and identity verification could have prevented the exploitation, stating: "Had Roblox taken any steps to screen users before allowing them on the apps, the plaintiff would not have been exposed to the large number of predators trolling the platform."
Two additional cases filed in California's northern district involve a seven-year-old girl from Philadelphia and a 12-year-old from Texas who were allegedly groomed on Roblox by predators who convinced them to send explicit images.
Platform Response and Industry Implications
A Roblox spokesperson responded to the allegations, saying the company is "deeply troubled by any incident that endangers any user" and that they "prioritize the safety of our community."
The spokesperson highlighted existing safety measures: "This is why our policies are purposely stricter than those found on many other platforms. We limit chat for younger users, don't allow user-to-user image sharing, and have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information."
Roblox has launched 145 new safety initiatives this year alone and acknowledges that no system is perfect. The age verification rollout will begin in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands next month, with global implementation expected by early January.
Kaufman expressed hope that other platforms would follow Roblox's lead: "It's not enough just for one platform to hold a high standard for safety. We really hope the rest of the industry follows suit with some of the things that we're doing, to really raise the protections for kids and teens online everywhere."
Beeban Kidron, UK founder of the 5Rights Foundation campaigning for children's digital rights, commented: "It is time for gaming companies to put their responsibilities to children at the centre of their services. Roblox's announcement claims that what they are introducing will set best practice for the sector – a bold assertion from a company that has been slow to address predatory behaviour."
