Summary
Robloxis under fire once again, as another study has concluded that it isnot doing enoughtoprotect its younger users. In this study, researchers set up accounts with their ages listed as low as five, and were able to access adult content and speak with adult users.
This study comes from the agencyRevealing Reality, which shared the research withThe Guardian. Here, they say that there are not enough restrictions in place to protect children, as access to text chat means that adults are still able to prey on younger users.
Another Study Into Roblox Finds That Children Can Access Adult Content
“Our research confirmed that an account registered as a 42-year-old could add and publicly interact with our accounts registered as children as young as 5 years old and privately chat with accounts registered as 13 years old and above,” the research reads.
They add that the account set up for a ten-year-old could freely access “roleplay” rooms which were sexually themed, with other players using the avatars to simulate sexual acts.
Roblox wasbanned in Turkey last yearover child safety concerns.
“This Roblox experience wasn’t hidden in some obscure corner,” the research reads. “Children can interact with adults right across the Roblox platform. The virtual night club and hotel environment – called ‘Boys and Girls Club Roleplay’ – has strong sexual undertones and is accessible to all children.”
In another instance, the accounts that were listed as ages under 13 were able to access a hangout server that they should not have been able to. Here, their adult account was able to ask for the child’s Snapchat username without moderation stopping them.
On the whole, while Roblox has taken steps to protect its younger users, such as preventing under 13s from accessing voice chat and direct messages, there are still too many workarounds. Namely, children and adults can still talk to one another in public text chat, making it possible for them to arrange to speak privately on other apps, albeit while using coded language. There also appears to be an issue with adult-orientated games not being advertised as such, with some featuring sexual interactions which are not obvious to anyone entering the game.
Concluding, the researchers make the following claims:
UK politician and internet safety campaigner Beeban Kidron commented on the research to The Guardian. “This kind of user research should be routine for a product like Roblox,” she says, adding that this represents a “systematic failure to keep children safe”.
In response to the investigation, chief safety officer at Roblox Matt Kaufman says that “trust and safety are at the core of everything we do". He continues: “We continually evolve our policies, technologies, and moderation efforts to protect our community, especially young people. This includes investing in advanced safety tools, working closely with experts and empowering parents and caregivers with robust controls and resources.
“In 2024 alone, we added more than 40 new safety enhancements, and we remain fully committed to going further to make Roblox a safe and civil place for everyone.”
