"From next month it will start enforcing facial age estimation to allow children to chat with strangers only if they are in their broad age group. Roblox said it would be the first online gaming or communication platform to require age checks for communication. Similar checks were introduced for users of pornography sites in the UK this summer under Online Safety Act measures to prevent under-18s from seeing explicit content."
"It will be introduced first in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, where children will be blocked from privately chatting with adults they do not know in real life from next month, and in the rest of the world in early January. Users will be placed into the following groups: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21+. Children will be able to chat only with others in their age group and similar ones."
"Images and video used for the checks were not stored, Roblox said. We see it as a way for our users to have more trust in who the other people they are talking with in these games, said Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer. And so we see it as real as a real opportunity to build confidence in the platform and build confidence amongst our users."
Roblox will enforce facial age estimation so children can chat with strangers only when users fall into the same broad estimated age groups. The system will roll out first in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands next month and expand globally in early January. Age cohorts include under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20 and 21+. Children can only message peers in their group or nearby groups. Images and video used for the checks will not be stored. The measure follows legal claims that predators have exploited the platform to groom minors.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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