"In March, the chief executive of Roblox, Dave Baszucki, said in a BBC interview that the company went to great lengths to keep children safe. However he also urged parents to be guided by their own instincts. "My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox," he said. "That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions.""
"Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC, said action had been needed because young people had been exposed to "unacceptable risks" on Roblox, "leaving many vulnerable to harm and online abuse." The charity welcomed the platform's latest announcement but called on Roblox to "ensure they deliver change for children in practice and prevent adult perpetrators from targeting and manipulating young users.""
Roblox will introduce mandatory age checks for accounts using chat features, starting in December in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands and rolling out globally in January. The change is designed to prevent children from communicating with adult strangers via chat. Roblox has faced criticism and multiple lawsuits over child safety and exposure to inappropriate content. Child safety groups welcomed the measure but urged Roblox to implement effective protections to stop adults targeting and manipulating young users. The platform averaged more than 80 million daily players in 2024, about 40% of whom were under 13. The move occurs amid growing regulatory pressure including Australia’s proposed under-16 social media ban and the UK’s Online Safety Act enforced by Ofcom.
Read at www.bbc.com
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