Roblox defends expanded age-checks amid parental concerns over errors

Roblox has defended a major expansion of its child safety system, despite complaints from parents that the game's user-age estimation can misclassify children and put them into less-protected versions of the service.

The gaming company, which says it has 144 million daily users worldwide, is extending its tech to introduce age‑specific accounts called Roblox Kids and Roblox Select.

A user's estimated age will now determine the version and individual features of Roblox they can access, what content they see and who they can communicate with.

Parents told the BBC some children have been incorrectly identified as adults during the age‑check process, which they say can reduce parental controls.

A simple question

In an interview with BBC News, Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer, said the company's age‑estimation system, which includes facial analysis, is now used by more than half of its daily users, amounting to tens of millions of people worldwide.

He said it typically estimates age "within about 1.4 years, plus or minus" for those under 18.

Roblox has not published data showing how often children are incorrectly classified as older users, but Kaufman argued the technology is more reliable than asking users to state their age themselves.

"When you ask them that simple question," he said, "users are going to tell you whatever they want to tell you in order to get access."

Age-rated accounts

Roblox already requires users to pass an age check before they can use chat features, placing people into age bands intended to limit communication between children, teenagers and adults.

The company says this is designed to reduce the risk of grooming and unwanted contact on the platform.

The new system extends that approach into account types:

Roblox Kids, aimed at younger children, features a simplified interface, no communication tools and access only to a curated set of games.

Roblox Select, for users aged nine to 15, allows limited communication and a broader but still restricted content library.

Under the changes, users who do not complete an age check will be restricted to children's content and barred from communication on the platform.

The move comes the week after the mother of a 14-year-old girl was groomed into sending sexually explicit images of herself to an 18-year-old man said the platform was not doing enough to protect children.

Two million developers

To decide which experiences are made available to under-16s, Kaufman said Roblox uses a range of signals including how long a game has been on the platform and the history and usage patterns of people who make games within the platform.

The games people make will also have to meet suitability criteria, and those which include social or free-form elements will not be default-available on the Kids and Select accounts.

Those people making content are known as 'developers' and Kaufman says Roblox has more than two million of them.

One developer told the BBC parents should be constantly monitoring their children on the platform, over safety fears.

However, Kaufman said it was, "irresponsible to choose one of those two million and have their opinion dictate how everybody feels about the platform."

Yet some parents say when age checks go wrong, correcting the error can be difficult and stressful.

Kaufman acknowledged mistakes can occur, but suggested many complaints arise when parents complete age checks on behalf of their children or misunderstand the process.

Roblox says parents can reset age checks, submit appeals, or use ID verification to correct errors, and users may be prompted to re‑verify if their behaviour appears inconsistent with their estimated age.

Parents will also be given the ability to block games and manage direct messages until a child turns 16.

'Real risks'

Prof Sonia Livingstone of the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics, told the BBC Roblox's response was "encouraging".

However, citing adult content in games and potential ways to contact children on Roblox, Livingstone said there was "mounting evidence its platform continues to pose real risks to children's safety".

"Parents deserve independent confirmation that the moderation is sufficient, that help systems are effective, and that age checks aren't used for commercial profiling."

The changes come amid growing global pressure on tech firms to protect children online.

In the UK, platforms are facing new duties under the Online Safety Act, while several countries have introduced restrictions or proposals to limit social media use for under‑16s.

Additional reporting by Laura Cress

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