Roblox makes changes but experts say platform is still 'real risk' to child safety

Roblox has introduced changes to its child safety system, including tech that estimates users' ages and settings that limit access to certain features based on age.

However online safety experts and parents say the platform is still putting young users at risk.

Prof Sonia Livingstone of the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics, said that Roblox "continues to pose real risks to children's safety".

Roblox recently introduced tech which it says can estimate, or best guess, a user's age.

The platform then puts the user into an age category which controls what features and games they can access - the aim being that these are safe for the child's age.

However, some parents told the BBC that children were sometimes wrongly identified as adults by the new age-check, which reduced the amount of features to keep them safe.

Roblox users already need to pass an age check before they can use features like chat, but the latest changes include these new age categories for individual accounts:

Roblox says that when a user turns nine or 16 their account will automatically update to the next category's settings.

It also says that users who don't complete an age check will be limited to children's content and unable to use communication features like chat on the platform.

But the company's new system which studies users' faces to estimate, or guess, how old they are could be rating children as older than they actually are potentially putting them in a higher age group.

This means users could be accessing features and content which are not suitable or safe for their age.

Roblox's chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman told the BBC that the technology can guess a user's age "within about 1.4 years, plus or minus" for those under 18.

Roblox has not said how often children are wrongly identified as adults or older users.

Newsround has reported before on issues previously with the platform that put children 'at risk of finding upsetting and harmful content'.

In 2022 we reported that children's charities NSPCC and Childline had experienced an increase in the number of calls from children with concerns about Roblox.

Roblox has made changes to its age and safety features since then.

On Roblox, games or experiences can be made by anyone, and they are called 'developers'.

However, this means that not all the games are always nice, friendly or safe.

Kaufman says Roblox has more than two million developers who make games for them.

One developer told the BBC recently that parents should monitor their children on the platform "24/7", and warned "if that's not possible then they shouldn't be playing Roblox".

Prof Sonia Livingstone told the BBC Roblox's response was "encouraging" but that independent checks were needed to make sure the platform is protecting its young users.

She said: "Parents deserve independent confirmation that the moderation is sufficient, that help systems are effective, and that age checks aren't used for commercial profiling."

If you are worried about any issues in this article, there is lots of support out there for you to get help.

Speak to an adult you trust, like a parent, guardian or a teacher.

You can also contact Childline on 0800 1111 for free at any time.

Childline is run by the NSPCC.