Roblox blocks children from chatting to adult strangers

As part of the expanded security measures, kids will no longer be able to chat with adult strangers on Roblox.

Users in the UK and US will now need to complete facial age checks before they can use chat features on one of the world’s most popular gaming platforms.

Roblox has faced criticism for allowing teens to access inappropriate content and communicate with adults.

Dave Baszucki, the company’s CEO, in March he told the BBC He said parents concerned about the service “shouldn’t let their kids be on Roblox.”

But some parents and campaigners have warned that despite existing safety measures, children may still encounter inappropriate content or talk to adults on the platform.

Rani Govender, the NSPCC’s online child safety policy manager, said young people were exposed to “unacceptable risks” on Roblox and left “many vulnerable to harm and online abuse”.

The charity welcomed the platform’s efforts but called on Roblox to “ensure it delivers change for children in practice and prevent adult perpetrators from targeting and manipulating young users”.

The platform had an average of more than 80 million daily players in 2024, with nearly 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 harm.

Communications regulator Ofcom is responsible for enforcing the law.

Ofcom’s director of online safety enforcement, Anna Lucas, said she was pleased with the new age-checking measures.

“Platforms now need to take steps to keep children 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 be the first major gaming platform to require facial age verification to access chat features.

Roblox’s chief security officer, Matt Kaufman, said at the press conference that the age estimation technology was “pretty accurate.”

He claimed the system could make close predictions “within one to two years” for users ages 5 to 25.

It is currently available voluntarily to anyone in the world.

Mandatory checks will begin in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in early December and will be expanded globally in January.

Users who complete the process will be placed into age groups: under nine, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20 and 21+.

Players can only chat with others in a similar age range unless they add someone as a “trusted contact,” a feature for people they know.

Those under 13 will still be denied access to private messages and certain chats unless a parent gives permission.

The new approach follows concerns about adults coming into contact with young players.

In BBC testing earlier this year, it was possible for a 27-year-old user and a 15-year-old user to exchange messages on disconnected devices.

At the time, Roblox said attempts to get around its rules often involved users trying to move conversations to different platforms.

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

According to the company, the images are processed by an external provider and deleted immediately after the check is completed.

Roblox says parents can continue to manage their child’s account, including updating the child’s age, once verification is complete.

The platform currently prohibits the sharing of images and videos in chats and heavily restricts links to external sites.

The company argues that the new system will provide more “age-appropriate” experiences on the platform and says it expects other companies to adopt similar methods.

The changes come as campaign groups ParentsTogether Action and UltraViolet staged a virtual protest, the first of its kind on Roblox.

The group will launch a digital petition signed by more than 12,000 people, demanding the platform implement stronger child safety measures.

“Roblox must stop being a playground for predators,” he says, calling for sweeping changes.