Roblox rolls out age-based feature, PHL ban remains possible

Roblox Corporation launched a new age-based accounts feature on Tuesday to filter content among young users on Roblox, following safety concerns that prompted calls for a ban in the Philippines.

“With the launch of Roblox Kids and Roblox Select, we are fundamentally shifting how games are discovered on our platform,” Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer at Roblox, said in a news release.

“Safety isn’t a static feature – it’s a journey that evolves as a child grows,” he added.

Roblox Kids for users ages five to eight, and Roblox Select for users ages nine to 15, align content access, communication settings, and parental controls with a user’s age to foster trust and reassurance among parents.

In both modalities, access is limited to a minimal or mild content maturity label to ensure there are no sensitive issues, social hangouts, or free-form drawing games. Distinct background colors are also applied in “kids’ mode” to indicate the account type.

For Roblox Kids, communications are unavailable by default. Meanwhile, Roblox Select remains under “default settings”, restricting conversations to only in-game text chats with other users aged 13 years old and below. The platform monitors all chats to detect child exploitation.

“Roblox is helping set a higher standard for how platforms can better protect younger users while preserving positive online experiences,” ConnectSafely Chief Executive Officer Larry Magid said in the same news release.

The online gaming platform also expanded its parental controls, allowing parents to manage content ratings, communications settings, screen time, and spending limits until the child turns 16.

Other features include parents’ access to which users their child spends the most time with, managing direct chat settings, and blocking and approving specific games not included in a child’s default account type.

“While no system is perfect, these age-adaptive accounts are designed to help remove the guesswork for parents and help align users’ experiences with their age,” Mr. Kaufman said.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Council (CICC) said the agency is urging other social media platforms, specifically messaging platforms, to create similar measures to demonstrate their responsibility in protecting Filipino youth.

“That’s what we all want, that platforms like these and especially Roblox will have the primary responsibility to police their platform because after all, it’s the platform that tests the means,” CICC Director Alvin M. Navarro told BusinessWorld in an interview.

“Make some adjustments to the algorithm, institute measures to protect, especially those that are vulnerable,” he added.

CICC Executive Director Renato “Aboy” Paraiso also warned that Roblox could still be banned in the Philippines if it fails to uphold its commitment to safeguard children’s rights and safety.

“Ultimately, the power to limit them or to exclude them from the PH sphere is an option that is available to us,” he told the Senate on Tuesday.

“There can be warnings first, then there could be measurable KPIs (key performance indicators) that they are failing their commitments,” he added.

Roblox previously faced a possible ban in the country after reports involving some minors using the platform to plot acts of violence.

Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) officials reported in a Senate hearing earlier that seven minors in Laguna and 12 others in Marikina, Las Piñas, and Negros Occidental were allegedly influenced, through the platform, to plan violent acts.

Police Colonel Romeo Desiderio said groomers coerced the victims into harmful activities, including self-harm, extortion, and violent crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and mass violence. — Almira Louise S. Martinez