Roblox Corp., one of the biggest online gaming platforms in the world, has announced new child-safety features to protect its young users from child abusers and predators using the platform.
Under the new measures, Roblox users under the age of 13 will be required to obtain permission from their parents to access certain chat features. Additionally, children under the age of 9 will also need to gain parental permission to play any games with moderate violence or crude humor.
Furthermore, the game will introduce a new account type, which will allow parents to monitor the user's online activity and friends, as first reported by Bloomberg News, citing an email the company sent out to parents this week.
Why Is Roblox Introducing Child-Safety Features?
The new measures come after at least two dozen people were arrested for abusing or abducting children they met on Roblox, per a Bloomberg Businessweek report published in July. Their probe found that some child predators who were arrested had already been registered as sex offenders or had been accused of abusing minors.
Arnold Castillo, for instance, is one of the most notable child predators to have used the gaming platform. He was a Roblox developer who created games on the platform that were later used to lure and groom minors. Castillo was arrested after sending an Uber to pick up a 15-year-old girl from Indiana to bring her to his home in New Jersey, where he held her for eight days and sexually assaulted her.
Read more: Florida Mom Used Roblox to Trick 10-Year-Old Child To Kill an Infant, Murder Foster Parents
Until recently, Roblox has allowed children of any age to open an account and talk to strangers online. The company stopped allowing user account creation for children under the age of 5 in September.
"Pedophile Hellscape"
Additionally, Hindenburg, a short seller profiting from betting against companies, also called the online gaming platform a "pedophile hellscape" in a recent report. It claimed the game exposed children to "grooming, pornography, violent content, and extremely abusive speech."
A spokesperson for Roblox denied Hidenburg's report and said it was "misleading." The spokesperson also claimed Roblox is a "safe and secure platform."
As of writing, Roblox is believed to have 80 million active daily accounts. At least 40% are estimated to belong to children under the age of 13.
