Roblox, accused of child safety concerns, to implement parental controls

Roblox, one of the most popular video games among teens, said it will be making changes to child safety features and parental controls for children under 13 to access certain features. This comes after growing concerns about child safety among parents.

The game has almost 400 million logins every month, with most users aged 15 or under and a fifth of users under the age of nine. Roblox has been accused of failing to protect its millions of young users and moderate content on the platform. The apparently harmful video game platform with simple graphics and Lego-like characters is proving to be a source of concern for many parents.

A recent investigation by New York investment firm Hindenburg Research discovered accounts trading child abuse material and called the platform a “pedophile hell.” They also discovered hundreds of accounts named after Jeffrey Epstein, a sex offender.

“We believe Roblox has adopted the Silicon Valley ‘growth at any cost’ approach… by opening its platform to dangerous predators and illegal content that is not suitable for children,” Hindenburg said.

However, the $26 billion company has denied all claims and said safety is “fundamental” to them as tens of millions of users of all ages have positive experiences.

“We take any content or behavior on the platform that does not meet our standards very seriously and we have developed a robust set of proactive and preventative security measures to detect and prevent malicious or harmful activity on our platform,” the company said. It also added that Hindenburg is driven by the profits they would make if Roblox shares fell.

The US National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a conservative pressure group, previously said the game is “a tool for sexual predators”.

Roblox Corp. has said it will introduce more features aimed at improving child safety on its platform. Children under the age of 13 require parental consent to access certain chat features, according to an email sent to parents by the company and reviewed by Bloomberg. Users under the age of nine need parental permission to play games that contain crude humor or violence. Since September, Roblox has no longer allowed children under the age of five to create an account.

The company will also introduce certain types of accounts that will allow parents to monitor their child’s and friends’ activities on the platform. According to reports, the company is expected to implement these changes in the coming month.

(With input from agencies)