Roblox makes sweeping changes amid Australian crackdown
After months of intense regulatory scrutiny and threats of huge fines from the Australian government, gaming giant Roblox has announced a sweeping overhaul of its platform designed to quarantine children from inappropriate content and predatory behavior.
Beginning in late May, the $55 billion company will roll out “Roblox Kids” and “Roblox Select” accounts globally, leveraging forced facial age prediction technology to fundamentally change the way millions of young users navigate the expanding virtual universe.
This change comes after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant placed Roblox on “notice” in February following reports of child grooming and sexual abuse. The regulator had said the company would face fines of up to $49.5 million if it failed to comply with Australia’s strict new online security rules by December.
In the United States, Roblox is fighting a wrongful death lawsuit in Louisiana that claims the platform has created an environment where predators can “grow, mate, prey, and victimize children.”
Roblox security chief Matt Kaufman said in an interview that the new guardrails aren’t a panicked response to regulatory heat, but instead are part of the company’s “long-term plan” to build trust.
“We operate a very large platform where we address any incredibly serious security-related incident,” he said. “Just the act of someone getting hurt and somehow having it associated with Roblox is too much.”
The platform is not included in Australia’s under-16 social media ban; Critics of the decision called it a loophole since many of Roblox’s more than 150 million daily users are under the age of 18.
“I think Australia is unique in being the first country to implement a ban on social media. You’re definitely a pioneer on this,” Kaufman said. “But we don’t equate Roblox with social media. Social media is largely a solitary experience… When we look at the way users use Roblox, it’s a much more interactive experience.”
Historically, platforms relied on self-reported dates of birth; Kaufman says this system is inherently flawed. “When you start saying that certain content or certain things are only available once you reach a certain age, I think there’s a lot of evidence that kids and teens adjust the ages they report to get that,” Kaufman said.
“We had a lot of historical concerns when we were doing these difficult age transitions, because we knew what was going to happen eventually, it was just that the users were not going to be honest.”
To solve this, Roblox is relying heavily on facial age estimation scans, an initiative it began rolling out for its chat features in January. With the new update, these scans will serve as a digital protection for the games themselves.
Users estimated to be under the age of nine will be locked into Roblox Kids, which only features minimal or moderate games and chat is off by default. Nine to 15-year-olds will graduate to Roblox select, which allows for moderate gaming and age-appropriate chat. The company also plans to adopt the Australian Classification Board’s familiar age ratings later this year.
AI prediction technology isn’t perfect; carries an average margin of error of 1.4 years for minors; This means that a seven-year-old child could theoretically be considered a nine-year-old child. Kaufman attributed the system’s flaws to automobile safety.
“Is there a chance you could get injured by the seat belt? Absolutely,” he said. “Can a child be injured by a seat belt? Yes. Is it categorically better than not having a seat belt? Yes”. He said parents retain the ultimate override because they can manually verify their own identity to adjust the child’s age range.
Games suitable for younger levels must complete a three-step screening process. Developers must complete identity verification, enable two-factor authentication, and maintain an active $4.99 per month Roblox Plus subscription, which launched separately on April 10.
New games are first played by verified users over the age of 16, and abuse reports from those users and signals from Roblox’s moderation system are used to evaluate content before younger users gain access. Social gatherings, free-form drawing, or games involving sensitive topics are excluded from Kids and Select accounts by default.
Australia’s eSafety commissioner declined to comment directly on the announcement, stating that an investigation into the platform is ongoing.
“In July 2025, eSafety launched an investigation into Roblox’s security practices,” a spokesperson said. “eSafety continues to engage with Roblox at a high level, including in recent weeks. While these investigative measures are ongoing, we will not comment specifically on this announcement, but we certainly welcome any measures that will improve the safety of users, especially children.”
The spokesperson said eSafety will continue to monitor compliance with the Online Safety Act “including looking at the implications of these new security measures and measuring compliance with recently introduced age-restricted material rules.”
Kaufman said he sees security investments as a business accelerator, not a factor that hinders growth. He said Roblox does not run traditional advertising.
“We don’t build giant billboards on the side of the road,” he said. “What we do is instill trust in our users and their families, and that’s what drives growth.”
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David Swan is the technology editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor of The Australian newspaper.Connect with: X or email.
