Adds Roblox accesses the accounts of minors and is updating parental control features as part of a push to strengthen security features on its platform. The changes come in the wake of damaging reports about the company’s security practices and broader industry reckoning with the impact of online platforms on children.
Now, Roblox is severely limiting the ability of its youngest users to connect with others on the service. The company plans to prohibit all children under the age of 13 from exchanging private messages with other users outside of specific games or experiences “over the next few months.” The company will continue to allow young children to see publicly posted messages within games and experiences, but they will not be able to send messages to other users without parental permission.
The added restrictions follow the company’s previous update Engaging in certain types of experiences under the age of 13. This includes unrated experiences, as well as “Social Meetups and Freeform User Creation experiences.”
Roblox also makes it easy for parents to set up and change parental control options. With changes, there have been some by Bloombergparents will be able to monitor their children’s Roblox usage and settings from their devices. Previously, Roblox’s parental control features required parents to make adjustments on their child’s device. Parents can now receive a push notification when their child requests approval for specific activities, such as joining an experience with a higher maturity rating. Parents will also be able to track their child’s screen time statistics and set daily limits, after which the app will be unavailable.
The changes are the latest effort by Roblox to address security issues with its service. A in Bloomberg Businessweek earlier this year detailed what it described as Roblox’s “pedophile problem,” noting that “since 2018, police in the U.S. have been accused of abducting or abusing victims they met or cared for using Roblox arrested at least two dozen people.” Hindenburg Research, a well-known short-selling firm, also recently published one in which he accused Roblox of failing to protect children from being targeted by predators.
