Roblox is an online platform that allows users to build, play and share online worlds and 3D games. Unfortunately, it’s also a popular platform among predators reaching out to kids and seducing them using game features such as messaging, avatar customization, and role-play.
Over the years, the company has faced several lawsuits and backlash for not doing enough to protect kids on its gaming services. Recently, Louisiana sued the Roblox, alleging the wildly popular site has perpetuated an environment where sexual predators “thrive, unite, hunt, and victimize kids.” And back in February Roblox, along with Discord, was sued in California. The law suit referred to it as a “real life nightmare for children.”
The initial response by Roblox’s CEO, Dave Baszucki, was “if you’re not comfortable, don’t let your kids be on Roblox.” But apparently, the company thought better of it, and so yesterday Roblox announced a plan to expand age estimation to all Roblox users who access its on-platform communication features by the end of this year.
Roblox defines age estimation as follows:
“We estimate your age by analyzing a selfie of your face and examining your facial features. Your estimated age helps place you in the appropriate age group (under 13, 13+ and 18+) to customize your experience on Roblox. If you are placed in the under 13 age group based on facial age estimation, certain personal data, including your email and phone number, will be removed from Roblox.”
While we understand the move, which aims to strengthen communication safety and prevent inappropriate interactions between adults and minors on the platform, we wonder if this will be enough to stop predators.
But the goal is clear: Limit communication between minors and adults that do no know each other in the real world. So, by using methods like facial age estimation, ID verification, and parental consent, Roblox aims to ensure users only access features and content suitable for their age group, and with that create a safer environment, ensuring that young users aren’t exposed to content or interactions that might be inappropriate for their developmental stage.
With governments demanding actual age verification on websites with adult content, and platforms like social media and Roblox introducing restrictions based on a user’s age, the controversy about different types of age verification and those implications is growing.
While Roblox didn’t release any details about how its age estimation technology works, the age estimation processes we know are based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that scan selfies or short videos and compare them to a database to estimate the user’s age. Needless to say, they are not always right and it opens up the system to deepfakes, and spoofing.
This kind of technology is definitely more effective than asking the user to provide their birthday or check a box that they are over 18, but it’s not foolproof.
And methods like facial scans, ID verification, and so on, will store information on servers which can be breached. We would prefer websites to use “double-anonymity” solutions, but it seems to be hard to convince them. Double anonymity basically separates the information of two providers from each other. The first provider (website asking for age confirmation) would only get the requester’s age and no other information. The second provider (the age verifier) wouldn’t receive information about the service or website the age verification is needed for. That enters the user into the appropriate age group, but keeps sensitive information away from servers that are not secure enough to hold it.
Roblox also acknowledges another danger:
“Unfortunately, bad actors will try to circumvent our systems to try to direct users off the platform, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ. We continuously work to block those efforts and to enhance our moderation approaches to promote a safe and enjoyable environment for all users.”
In defense to the Louisiana lawsuit, Roblox rolled out an AI system to help detect early signs of possible child endangerment, such as sexually exploitive language. Roblox said the system led it to submit 1,200 reports of potential attempts at child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the first half of 2025.
How to keep your kids safe on Roblox
Since it’s not likely you’ll be able to guide your children 24/7 in their online journey, here are some tips you can use to keep them safe:
- Take control. Use Roblox’s Parental Controls to limit access to age-appropriate games and content and enable features like daily screen-time limits.
- Anonymize. When setting up your child’s Roblox account, avoid using real names, and use an appropriate date of birth to enable the relevant restrictions.
- Friend requests. Access the settings of your child’s account to limit or disable friend requests and online chat capabilities.
- Stay on the platform. Tell your child to refuse requests to take chats offline or to another platform. Predators will do this to avoid Roblox’s restrictions about sharing images.
- Education. Teach children about online safety, including not sharing personal information and avoiding suspicious links, and make sure they are comfortable sharing their online experiences with you.
- Play with them. What’s more fun than beating your parents in your favorite game? Spending some quality time with them makes it fun to keep an eye on them and the games they enjoy.
- Information. Stay on top of information about Roblox’s updates, features, and changes.
- Protect the device. Make sure they are playing on a device that is fully up-to-date and actively protected.
We don’t just report on threats – we help protect your social media
Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your social media accounts by using Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection.
Source link
