Thursday, October 24th 2024
Roblox To Roll Out New Child Safety Rules After Scathing 'Pedophile Hellscape' Report
We previously covered a damning report that levelled some pretty severe allegations at Roblox concerning a mix of child safety and false platform metrics. While nothing seems to have been done about the latter, Roblox looks to be addressing the former, and far more serious, of the allegations. According to a Bloomberg report, Roblox will add child safety measures in November that will give parents more control over what their children can see and interact with in Roblox's various games and communities.
According to Bloomberg, Roblox sent parents of the platform's minor audience an email detailing the new changes coming in November. Seemingly in response to the recent criticism, Roblox is putting more control in the hands of parents. Specifically, children under 13 will need parental approval in order to access certain chat features, although the company declined to clarify on exactly what it means by this. Additionally, children under nine years of age will require parental approval in order to play games known to contain moderate violence or crude humor. For more involved parents, Roblox is also introducing a new account type that will allow parents to supervise their online activities. These new safety measures come after Roblox effectively dismissed the October 9 Hindenburg report's accusations that it wasn't doing enough to protect its minor audience.
Whether these new safety protocols will actually help is yet to be seen, since it's more or less commonly accepted that parental controls are mostly a stop-gap solution that only serve to delay children access to content they should not be seeing. While parents of children active on Roblox will also likely appreciate the additional control over what their children can and can't do on the platform, it should be noted that Roblox hasn't committed to stepping up its chat and in-game moderation, instead placing the onus on the guardians of its minor users, which make up as much as 58% of its user base.
Sources:
Bloomberg, Statista, Game Developer
According to Bloomberg, Roblox sent parents of the platform's minor audience an email detailing the new changes coming in November. Seemingly in response to the recent criticism, Roblox is putting more control in the hands of parents. Specifically, children under 13 will need parental approval in order to access certain chat features, although the company declined to clarify on exactly what it means by this. Additionally, children under nine years of age will require parental approval in order to play games known to contain moderate violence or crude humor. For more involved parents, Roblox is also introducing a new account type that will allow parents to supervise their online activities. These new safety measures come after Roblox effectively dismissed the October 9 Hindenburg report's accusations that it wasn't doing enough to protect its minor audience.
29 Comments on Roblox To Roll Out New Child Safety Rules After Scathing 'Pedophile Hellscape' Report
One would be crazy not to set up any parental control these days. The internet is a dangerous and vile place. Defo not meant for children.
If I had any kids, I wouldn't buy them a smartphone, tablet, or anything similar until they're in high school. I'd let a primary school kid play on the PC, but only with the games I select.
On the other side of the spectrum, I know folks who let their kids use a smartphones from day one. Now, their small one is 10 years old and only recently learned to speak.
Of course I doubt I'd buy a pre-teen kid a smartphone of their own but I'd definitely let them use mine in a restricted mode since they're around 7 up until they understand the risks. Once they pass all the safety exams, I would grant them a new toy. My main concern is screentime, people of all ages are quite prone to abuse their smartphones. Can damage their arms, impact the rest of the skeleton... not ideal.
Like I said above, I know folks whose 10 year-old son has been using smartphones since day one. He can browse Youtube and app stores better than any of us, but he still hasn't fully gained the ability to speak.
Edit: When your only exposure to other humans is through Youtube videos on a smartphone's screen, that you interact with by touch, not by speech, then of course you'll never learn to speak. Why would you?
Death comes when it comes, and you'll never be ready for it, no matter how hard you try.
No kids here, anyways.