Parents were rejoicing this week after Roblox, the popular online game marketed to kids, announced they were introducing some big changes to their controversial chat features.
It was confirmed that the platform would implement significant updates to its security systems and parental controls – including blocking those under 13 from messaging others online – as early as 2025.
Red flags parents should know
While many have been reassured by the new rules, which have complimented the Australian government’s ban on social media for children under 16, many internet safety experts are warning parents not to get too caught up in what they see as a sense of false hope.
According to former detective and child safety expert Kristi McVee, the changes to Roblox’s chat options appear to be positive on the surface, but parents need to dig a little deeper to make sure their kids are completely safe during using the application.
“While Roblox has made what appear to be positive changes to protect children under the age of 13, the changes are a false ‘safety’ measure for parents and fall short of what Roblox can do to protect children,” said Kristi for Kidspot.
“My biggest gripe with Roblox’s release of surface-level safeguards is that it puts the responsibility back on parents to make sure kids are safe in their game. These changes were made purely as a ‘reputational exercise’ after being labeled a ‘pedophile hellscape’ in the Hindenburg Report in October.
A parent’s responsibility?
According to Kristi, putting responsibility back on parents is a big red flag about the new rules.
“Roblox chose to make it the parents’ responsibility to keep kids safe instead of blocking and removing the millions of predatory adults who prey on kids in-game and the millions of inappropriate games and content our kids have access to,” it insists she.
“They know that the users and the content of the game are problematic, yet they have taken the easy option of making parents responsible for a game that is specifically targeted and aimed at children.
“For children under the age of 13, a parent account MUST be created and linked to their child’s account in order to set up the new security measures, however, from 13 plus, they no longer have any control over the accounts. “
What about kids who don’t have a linked account?
Similar to the concerns many people have about social media bans to see children under 16 lying about their ages, Kristi admits she’s also worried this ‘trend’ will filter into online games like Roblox.
“As a cyber security detective and educator, I saw many children creating accounts using fake dates of birth on various social media platforms to enable access. What’s to stop any child from creating accounts doing this? There is no age verification, so anyone can create a 13 plus account and start playing/chatting with strangers,” she points out.
“Kids are very resourceful and will find a way if they want to. As parents, we need tech companies and especially platforms designed for our kids to take charge and do more.
“They have ways to identify and remove these predatory accounts, yet they choose to turn a blind eye and tell parents it’s their fault if their child is abused on our platform,” she adds.
How to play safely on Roblox
However, now is not the time to panic. If your child plays Roblox, there are ways to keep them safe.
“If you decide to let your kids into Roblox, make sure they have the correct date of birth and use whatever settings you have available,” suggests Kristi.
“Regularly supervise and play alongside them, be in the room with them and check their usage every week.
“Get to know the platform and how it works, identify what games your child plays, and be aware of third-party messaging apps like Discord. Kids may not be talking to each other in-game, but they can still communicate through other messaging apps,” she adds.
About Roblox’s new chat rules for under 13s
Earlier this week, Chief Security Officer Matt Kaufman made the announcement that Roblox would be making some significant changes to its platform to make it safer for some of its newest users.
Although he said connecting with others is central to the Roblox experience, Kaufman also acknowledged that safety is of utmost importance.
As a result, users under the age of 13 will no longer be able to message others on Roblox outside of games or experiences. There will also be a built-in setting that will limit users under 13 to public broadcast messages only within a game or experience.
By default, users under 13 will not be able to send direct messages to others – however, parents can change this setting in Parental Controls.
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