- Limiting chats by age groups to prevent contact between minors and unknown adults.
- Age verification via selfie and facial estimation, without storing images or videos after the process.
- Initial rollout in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand in December and global expansion in early January.
- Measure driven by legal and regulatory pressure; expected impact in Spain and the rest of Europe.
Roblox has announced a package of child protection measures to curb communication between children and unknown adults on the platform. The plan, which It combines age verification and new chat limits.It starts first in three countries and will then reach the rest of the world, with a direct impact on Spain and Europe when the global rollout is activated and raises questions about the Recommended age for playing.
The axis of change is a system of facial age estimation which classifies players into tiers and restricts who they can talk toThe company maintains that it will not retain images or videos used for verification, and emphasizes that, in a service with more than 150 million of daily usersThis will be the first time an online gaming environment requires age controls to allow interaction between users.
What's changing in Roblox: age brackets and chat limits
With the new policy, Players will only be able to chat with people in their same time zone or in similar time zones.closing the door to an unknown adult communicating with a child. According to the announced design, a child under 12, for example, will not be able to speak with adults and will be limited to groups close to their age, reinforcing the age limit between users.
The platform will divide its community into six age categorieswhich will function as security borders for text and messages on the platform.
- Children under 9 years old
- From 9 to 12 years
- From 13 to 15 years
- From 16 to 17 years
- From 18 to 20 years
- 21 years the poor
La Interaction will be limited to the same age group or adjacent age groupsDepending on the type of chat and age, to prevent jumps that facilitate risky contacts between very distant profiles.
How is age verified and what happens to the data?
To activate these restrictions, Roblox will ask for one selfie (or video selfie) which their verification provider will process to estimate age. The company states that the images or videos are deleted once the verification is complete and that the procedure It does not require uploading an identity document unless the user wants to correct the estimate or use parental consent..
According to the company, the The system's accuracy in young and adolescent ages moves in a 1-2 year marginThis error band seeks to balance security and usability, avoiding collecting more data than necessary while erecting barriers against potential child predators.
Where and when it comes into effect
The launch starts in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands during the first week of December. After that initial phase, the rollout will extend to the rest of the territories at the beginning of January, including its arrival in Spain and other European countries on that global calendar.
Roblox emphasizes that This is a phased approach to scaling operations and avoiding unintended impacts on the legitimate use of the platform.especially among teenagers who share activities within the same community.
Why now: demands and regulatory pressure
The move comes amid a growing legal pressure and media attention. In the United States, the company faces lawsuits from several states (such as Texas, Kentucky, and Louisiana) and from individual families who allege the recruitment and abuse of minors in online environments. Recent cases include files in Nevada, Philadelphia, and Texas with stories of adults who posed as minors to obtain contact and explicit material.
Lawyers such as Matt Dolman They accuse the platform of not preventing these situations, while Roblox maintains that It prioritizes safety and its standards are stricter than those of many competitors.Among the existing measures, he cites limits on chat for younger users, ban on image sharing between users and filters designed to block the exchange of personal data.
The company claims to have launched 145 security initiatives during the last year and acknowledges that no system is infallible, therefore will continue iterating on tools and controlsMeanwhile, in the United Kingdom, demands have already been seen for age verification in other sectors under the Online Safety Act, a precedent that puts pressure on the entire digital industry.
Reactions and domino effect in the industry
Digital children's rights organizations, such as 5Rights FoundationThey appreciate the prioritization of child protection, although they point out that The sector has been late in protecting its younger audienceThe expectation is that Roblox will deliver on its promises and that these changes will translate into... best practices real inside and outside the game.
From the company, its security officer, Matt Kaufman, argues that the new framework It will help users better understand who they are interacting with and will serve as a reference for other platforms.Along those lines, tech companies like Google and Instagram are testing systems for AI verification to strengthen age controlThis is a sign that the issue has become a regulatory and reputational priority.
With such a massive ecosystem, the A combination of facial verification and age-segmented chats aims to reduce risky contact between vulnerable groups and adults. If the rollout in the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand proceeds as planned and the global expansion is consolidated by early January, Spain and the rest of Europe will see the same security pattern applied, with the promise of more control and less exposure for children and teenagers.
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