Roblox: Difference between revisions
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==Incidents== | ==Incidents== | ||
===Inappropriate Content=== | ===Inappropriate Content=== | ||
Throughout the 2020s, Roblox has faced several controversies regarding child safety, including a lawsuit in 2020 over how the platform had allowed two adults to harass a 10-year-old girl, causing her mental health to deteriorate so badly that she resorted to suicide, according to her parents' testimony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorsey |first=Edwin |date=2025-08-15 |title=This list is the tip of the iceberg. So many cases go unreported, undetected, or contribute to the deaths of children. Below is one lawsuit in which a 10-year-old girl claimed abuse through Roblox. |url=https://x.com/StockJabber/status/1956415609345851567 |access-date=2025-08-23 |website=Twitter}}</ref> | Throughout the 2020s, Roblox has faced several controversies regarding child safety, including a lawsuit in 2020 over how the platform had allowed two adults to harass a 10-year-old girl, causing her mental health to deteriorate so badly that she resorted to suicide, according to her parents' testimony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorsey |first=Edwin |date=2025-08-15 |title=This list is the tip of the iceberg. So many cases go unreported, undetected, or contribute to the deaths of children. Below is one lawsuit in which a 10-year-old girl claimed abuse through Roblox. |url=https://x.com/StockJabber/status/1956415609345851567 |access-date=2025-08-23 |website=Twitter}}</ref> | ||
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===Accusations of child labor=== | ===Accusations of child labor=== | ||
In January 2022, ''The Guardian'' published a story accusing Roblox of profiting off child labor with detailed stories of teenagers being scammed and becoming victims of sexual grooming in communities conveniently off the platform.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/09/the-trouble-with-roblox-the-video-game-empire-built-on-child-labour</ref> In October 2022, the first of many lawsuits alleging Roblox enabled a girl's sexual exploitation was filed.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/legal/game-company-roblox-enabled-girls-sexual-exploitation-lawsuit-claims-2022-10-05/</ref> | In January 2022, ''The Guardian'' published a story accusing Roblox of profiting off child labor with detailed stories of teenagers being scammed and becoming victims of sexual grooming in communities conveniently off the platform.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/09/the-trouble-with-roblox-the-video-game-empire-built-on-child-labour</ref> In October 2022, the first of many lawsuits alleging Roblox enabled a girl's sexual exploitation was filed.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/legal/game-company-roblox-enabled-girls-sexual-exploitation-lawsuit-claims-2022-10-05/</ref> | ||
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===Age checks to chat=== | ===Age checks to chat=== | ||
In 3rd September, 2025, Matt Kaufman (Roblox's Chief Safety Officer) issues an post on their blog announcing their plans to implement facial estimation in order to "provide an accurate measure of a user's age rather than relying on what they type in when creating an account"<ref>''Matt Kaufman (2025-09-03).'' [https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2025/09/roblox-to-expand-age-estimation-to-all-users "Roblox Announces Ambitious Plan to Expand Age Estimation to All Users"]. ''Roblox's Newsroom. Retrieved 2026-01-22.''</ref>. Later on October, Roblox announces on their developer forum a post titled "Encouraging users to complete an age check to chat", citing a partnership with Persona, which as of early 2026, is currently being sued over biometric data handling<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-third-appellate-district/2024/3-24-0210.html</ref>. In that same post, they cite that "early next year, users will be required to be age checked to chat on Roblox"<ref>https://devforum.roblox.com/t/test-encouraging-users-to-complete-an-age-check-to-chat/4035155</ref>. | In 3rd September, 2025, Matt Kaufman (Roblox's Chief Safety Officer) issues an post on their blog announcing their plans to implement facial estimation in order to "provide an accurate measure of a user's age rather than relying on what they type in when creating an account"<ref>''Matt Kaufman (2025-09-03).'' [https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2025/09/roblox-to-expand-age-estimation-to-all-users "Roblox Announces Ambitious Plan to Expand Age Estimation to All Users"]. ''Roblox's Newsroom. Retrieved 2026-01-22.''</ref>. Later on October, Roblox announces on their developer forum a post titled "Encouraging users to complete an age check to chat", citing a partnership with [[Persona]], which as of early 2026, is currently being sued over biometric data handling<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-third-appellate-district/2024/3-24-0210.html</ref>. In that same post, they cite that "early next year, users will be required to be age checked to chat on Roblox"<ref>https://devforum.roblox.com/t/test-encouraging-users-to-complete-an-age-check-to-chat/4035155</ref>. | ||
On November, 2025, Roblox released an update that required users on Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand to be age verified in order to use chat by either facial estimation or ID verification, which caused outrage amongst users. On January 7th, 2026, they seemingly ignored the outrage and released the update globally<ref>https://devforum.roblox.com/t/age-check-requirement-to-chat-now-live-globally/4226101</ref><ref>''Matt Kaufman and Rajiv Bhatia (2026-01-07).'' [https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2026/01/roblox-age-checks-required-to-chat "A New Era of Safety: Facial Age Checks Now Required to Chat on Roblox"] ''Roblox's Newsroom. Retrieved 2026-01-22.''</ref>. | On November, 2025, Roblox released an update that required users on Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand to be age verified in order to use chat by either facial estimation or ID verification, which caused outrage amongst users. On January 7th, 2026, they seemingly ignored the outrage and released the update globally<ref>https://devforum.roblox.com/t/age-check-requirement-to-chat-now-live-globally/4226101</ref><ref>''Matt Kaufman and Rajiv Bhatia (2026-01-07).'' [https://corp.roblox.com/newsroom/2026/01/roblox-age-checks-required-to-chat "A New Era of Safety: Facial Age Checks Now Required to Chat on Roblox"] ''Roblox's Newsroom. Retrieved 2026-01-22.''</ref>. | ||