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50m ago

Roblox to Require Age Verification for Chat Access Worldwide by January

Roblox says age checks will segment chat by age groups to limit contact between minors and much older users.

The Roblox logo is displayed on a banner, to celebrate the company's IPO, on the front facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A girl uses Roblox on a smartphone. Roblox is making new efforts to verify users' ages to protect children.
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Overview

  • Voluntary age estimation or ID submission opens today, with mandatory checks in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in early December and global enforcement by early January 2026.
  • Users will be placed into six brackets (under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, 21+) and can only chat within their group or nearby ages; a 12-year-old, for example, will be blocked from chatting with 16+ users.
  • The system uses Persona’s video selfie-based age estimation or a government ID, and Roblox says images are deleted after processing, with over‑13s or linked parents able to correct errors via ID.
  • Roblox says the AI typically estimates ages within one to two years for users roughly 5–25 and includes liveness and fraud checks to deter spoofing.
  • The company launched a Safety Center and positioned the rollout as a response to mounting lawsuits and investigations over child safety, including actions by state attorneys general.