Roblox has announced three significant policy updates to enhance content controls for children under 13. These updates include measures to protect young users from unrated experiences, restrict social hangouts, and limit free-form creation.
Roblox will prevent users under 13 from accessing, discovering, or searching for unrated experiences. For creators, this update means that every experience intended for users under 13 must undergo vetting.
By December 3, 2024, creators must complete a detailed questionnaire for each experience to determine its age-appropriate rating. Unrated experiences will automatically be filtered out for under-13 users, disappearing from their search results and recommendations.
Importantly, while under-13 users won’t be able to play unrated experiences, they can still view an experience’s detail page via a direct link, which provides controlled access but not gameplay.
“After this date, experiences that are unrated will become unplayable, unsearchable, and undiscoverable by users under the age of 13. However, users under 13 will still be able to access the experience detail page via a direct link,” said the company.
The questionnaire is expected to evolve, eventually becoming integral to Roblox’s publishing process. Roblox aims to maintain a family-friendly environment by aligning this update with industry standards.
The second wave of updates focuses on certain interactive experience types that could pose risks to younger users. Starting November 18, social hangouts and free-form user creation activities will only be accessible to users aged 13 and up.
Social hangouts encompass games where communication (like text or voice chat) is the core of the experience. Unlike role-playing games where users adopt in-game personas, social hangouts prioritise real-time interaction with other users, often involving minimal content moderation.
By restricting access to users aged 13 and older, Roblox aims to reduce the experience of potentially risky interactions.
Similarly, free-form user creation involves any 2D user-generated content that can be shared without prior moderation. This includes drawing or writing on in-game boards or spray-painting, which — without moderation — could expose young users to inappropriate content.
However, user-generated content assembled from pre-approved 3D assets, such as building structures or creating in-game outfits, will remain available to all ages.
Last month, Roblox introduced a new account type and increased parental permissions for children to access chat.
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