The gaming platform, Roblox, has rolled out new safety features following concerns about children using the platform.
One of those concerns came from Connecticut’s Attorney General, who is now investigating the company, calling it a “predators’ playground.”
But Roblox said the new update is meant to help protect young users.
One of those users is 11-year-old Lukas Hendricks, the son of a photojournalist at NBC Connecticut.
Like more than 132 million other people, Lukas plays Roblox regularly.
“It’s really addicting sometimes. Like, I can just never pass up on it,” Lukas said.
Since its inception, the company has faced more than 100 lawsuits citing dangers posed to young children who may come into contact with strangers with bad intentions.
Lukas said he can remember at least one unsettling encounter in his three years of playing.
“Someone was like talking to my friend and then, like, ‘cause he didn’t, we didn’t know who they were,” he said. “We stayed in the game for like, 10 seconds. And then we left.”
More severe cases of that scenario have prompted the company to launch new updates, which took effect earlier this month.
Roblox now requires all users to prove their age by uploading a government ID or using facial age estimation technology, but not both.
The platform then assigns users to one of three groups:
- Roblox Kids for children ages 5 to 8, where all chats are disabled unless parents change the settings.
- Roblox Select is for ages 9 through 15, where certain chats are allowed with limitations.
- Roblox for ages 16 and older, with unrestricted chat.
In all versions, an age check is required.
“There is no end date when it comes to safety. We will always be improving the systems, adding new technology, talking to our community,” said Eliza Jacobs, senior director of product policy at Roblox.
Roblox said parents also need to participate in keeping children safe. For Michael Shelby, founder of the Technology Addiction Center in Hartford, that includes limiting the amount of time children spend on the platform.”
Shelby said platforms like Roblox cater to children’s underdeveloped brains.
“It understands dopamine. That’s the only thing it speaks. And whatever delivers that dopamine, especially in young children, when the prefrontal cortex, which is our brake, hasn’t been fully formed yet,” Shelby said. “It doesn’t work. They want to stop. They push that pedal. Parents are trying to have that form, fully trying to get them to push that pedal to stop. But it’s not formed yet. It doesn’t know how to stop.”
Experts are encouraging parents to have honest conversations with their children to help limit their time on the platform and discuss who they may encounter while using it.
“The approach would be more of a conversation of, okay, what happened today on the game, and what are some things that you encountered today,” said Lauren Stornelli, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of New Haven. “And then you can start that conversation, ask some questions, and start to gauge what’s going on in that game with your child.”
Experts said those conversations can help children share information with their parents if they experience something that makes them feel uneasy, as Lukas did.
Many are hoping the updates will lower the chances of that happening.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good feature they added because, like, you can never trust anybody,” Lukas said.
Roblox said that once users complete the facial age estimation check, videos and images are deleted from the platform for privacy reasons.
The company also said it evaluates user behavior behind the scenes. If it detects a mismatch between how old a person appears and the age they claim to be, Roblox will prompt that user to complete a new age estimation check.
Those who do not complete the age estimation process will not be able to use the chat feature, regardless of their age.
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