Roblox Restricts Features in Middle East Over Child Safety

(Bloomberg) -roblox Corp., as child safety concerns and regulatory study concentrates in the region, will restrict certain features on the popular video game platform in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The changes include the temporary suspension of Roblox’s in -game chat tool and better moderation of Arabic content. It also applies to users in countries such as Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.

Roblox has been conducting an increasing investigation in the region since an Arabic version of this year. Kuwait, Qatar and Türkiye banned the game on security concerns.

The UAE’s telecommunications and digital government regulatory authority announced the changes in a joint statement with the company.

“These updates reflect our commitment to work in cooperation with the government officials in the Middle East, while creating a platform that serves the needs and culture of the region in the best way.” He said.

The platform is particularly popular among young children, but in recent years, the audience has shifted to old young people and young adults. Since his children could not protect their children adequately from sexual predators, he encountered criticism from researchers and law enforcement officers and is currently fighting various cases related to child safety in the USA.

Roblox made dozens of security changes last year. Bloomberg has arrested at least two dozens of people who have been accused of kidnapping or exploiting the individuals they met or groomed using the platform since 2018.

The platform announced on Wednesday that text and voice chat vehicles have expanded selfie -based age forecast checks to all users.

According to a statement that the company sent 6.1 billion chat messages and uploaded creations to service last month, the company has 111.8 million daily active users per day. Most of the games are created by children and young people. Approximately 36% are less than 13 years of age.

-Help from Ol Chmouri.

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