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Roblox’s New Age Checks Draw Fire for Errors and Easy Workarounds

Under mounting legal pressure, Roblox made chat access contingent on age checks.

Overview

  • The mandatory system gates chat behind a facial age estimate or, for users 13 and over, a government ID check, then restricts conversations to age bands.
  • Users and outlets documented adults labeled as minors and children placed in adult tiers, as well as trivial bypasses using avatars, celebrity photos, or drawn facial hair.
  • WIRED found eBay listings selling pre‑verified child accounts for as little as $4, and eBay said it removed the posts after being alerted.
  • Developers report steep drops in chat activity and flooded Roblox’s forums with demands to reverse the change, citing games that fell from roughly 85–90% chat usage to near 36%.
  • Roblox says “tens of millions” have completed checks, acknowledges parents verifying on behalf of children, and promises fixes and periodic rechecks as the rollout expands to India.