Ubiquitous online video game Roblox is adding new content moderation tools designed to give parents greater control over how their children use the game.
In an email sent to parents who manage children accounts, Roblox says it will introduce “Roblox accounts with parent privileges” next month. These accounts will be linked a child’s account and let parents “view and update parental controls for their child from their own device,” and access information about their child’s daily screen time and on-platform friends.
Roblox will also require parental permission for use of some chat features for users under 13, and introduce new labeling for experiences that detail content instead of only stating an age, allowing parents to set limits on the type of content children can access. Users under the age of 9 will soon need parent permission to access experiences with content maturity labeled “Moderate.” (Amazing that this wasn’t already in place!)
Currently, Roblox accounts can be created instantly with the age selected by the user and no checks or verification. Entering a phone number allows for voice chat. Presumably, an enterprising child could create an account and lie about their age to get around the new parental controls and content restrictions.
New Roblox parental controls are emerging following a report that its an “X-rated pedophile hellscape”
The announcement of the new security features comes weeks after a damning investigative report from Hindenburgh Research that called Roblox an “X-rated pedophile hellscape” that exposes children to “grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech.”
The report lists objectionable Roblox content that was open to children, including games like “Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe,” “Beat Up The Homeless,” “Escape to Epstein Island,” and “Diddy Party,” as well as describing open trading of child pornography within the game. Hindenburgh’s report mirrors an earlier warning from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation that concluded Roblox is “too high risk for kids.”
And it’s a lot of kids. According to Roblox’s report to the SEC, 21% of the game’s supposed 79.5 million players are under 9 years old, 21% are from 9-12 years old, and 16% are between 13 and 16 years old.
Along with detailing the “pedophile hellscape,” Hindenburg’s report accuses Roblox of lying to investors, regulators, advertisers, and the SEC about the number of people using the service and other key metrics.
In a response to the Hindenburgh report, Roblox says it has a “robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent malicious or harmful activity on the platform,” and calls the financial claims made by Hindenburgh “misleading.”
A quick search of Roblox reveals that most of the specific experiences listed in Hindenburgh’s report have been axed from the game, but, as of the time of this post, you can still visit a “Freak Off,” “Beat up Homless People.” and enjoy the “Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe.” Advertised for players over 9, it took me about 45 seconds to encounter avatars having simulated sex on a bathroom floor in the Public Bathroom Simulator.
