Sawt Falasteen - Roblox game platform launches age checks for chat

It aims to stop under-nines from chatting without parental consent and to curb conversations between adults and minors online by placing users into six age bands ranging from under-nines to over 21s.

The requirement for joining chats will launch in the first week of December in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands before expanding globally in early January, it said.

"Roblox is the first online gaming or communication platform to require facial age checks to access chat, establishing what we believe will become a new industry standard," the California-based company said in a statement released Tuesday.

The new system will require users to take a photo of their face or use identification to verify their age.

All players can undergo age checks now on a voluntary basis before it becomes a requirement, said Roblox, which is hugely popular with young players.

Facial age estimations will be conducted by ID verification company Persona on the Roblox app, with images and video to be deleted "immediately" after processing.

"Age checks are completely optional; however, features like chat will not be accessible unless the age check is complete," said Roblox, whose platform allows players to create their own online gaming worlds.

- Social media ban -

The Roblox announcement comes weeks before Australia's ban on under-16s joining social media such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok comes into effect on December 10.

Social media platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to detect and deactivate accounts held by under-16s may be slapped with fines of up to Aus$49.5 million (US$32 million).

Roblox is among several platforms, including Discord, WhatsApp and Lego Play, that have been deemed to be exempt from the Australian social media law.

But the Australian authorities have reserved the right to force excluded platforms to comply with the legislation if required.

On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world.

But some experts are concerned that the law will be merely symbolic because of the difficulty in implementing and policing online age verification.

Tech companies have been critical of Australia's ban, describing it as "vague", "problematic" and "rushed".

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will introduce a similar bill to restrict children's social media use.

And the Dutch government advised parents this year to forbid children under 15 from using social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat.

D.Khalil--SF-PST