Roblox is introducing significant changes to give parents more control over their children’s activities and to better protect younger users on the platform. This comes after reports raised concerns about how Roblox had failed to shield children from inappropriate content. The changes will restrict what pre-teens can access and introduce new parental controls to monitor their child’s activity more closely.
In recent months, Roblox has faced heavy criticism for not doing enough to protect children using the platform. A July report by Bloomberg highlighted how online predators have targeted young users. In August, Turkey blocked access to Roblox to safeguard its children. Earlier this month, the popular financial newsletter Hindenburg Research accused Roblox of enabling child abuse, describing some areas of the platform as an “X-rated paedophile hellscape.”
In response, Roblox has rolled out a series of updates, with some changes already reported by Bloomberg. The most notable adjustment is that users under 13 years of age will now require parental permission to access specific chat features. Additionally, children under 9 will need parent approval to play experiences labelled as “moderate,” which could contain moderate violence or crude humour.
Updated content controls and parent privileges
One of the most critical changes is the introduction of new parent accounts. These will allow parents to link their Roblox account to their child’s, offering better control and insights. Parents can monitor their children’s daily screen time, see their Roblox friends, and easily update parental control settings from their own devices.
Although Roblox has promised more control for parents, some limitations remain. For example, parents won’t be able to set a PIN to lock certain settings or prevent their child from sending in-game messages. Roblox is also eliminating its previous “Account Restrictions” feature, which allowed parents to limit their child’s account to only experiences suitable for all ages.
These changes reflect Roblox’s commitment to becoming a safer online space, especially for its youngest users. Juliet Chaitin-Lefcourt, a Roblox spokesperson, said, “The updates that were shared via email are part of Roblox’s commitment to making the platform one of the safest online environments for our users, particularly the youngest users.”
New parental insights are coming soon
In an email to parents, Roblox outlined further updates next month. These include a new “content maturity setting” to help parents manage the types of experiences their children can access. Instead of rating content by age, Roblox will switch to a new “Content Label” system. Parents can set limits based on the type of content rather than the user’s age.
New default settings will automatically limit access to certain chat features for users under 13 unless a parent gives permission. Similarly, users under 9 will need parental approval to access any content classified as “Moderate.”
To keep up with these changes, parents must set up a Roblox account with parent privileges and link it to their child’s account. This will ensure they continue to receive notifications about spending or any other important activity related to their child’s account. Existing verified parental emails will still be used for account recovery, but all future updates to controls will need to be made through the new parent account system.
Roblox has been committed to online safety from the beginning, and these latest updates reflect the company’s ongoing efforts to improve parental controls and child safety on the platform.
