In a significant move for online safety, the popular gaming platform Roblox is rolling out new age-verification features in Australia, while simultaneously insisting that the country's impending under-16s social media ban should not apply to its services.
New Age Assurance Technology Goes Live
Roblox, which is launching the features in Australia first, announced that from Wednesday users can voluntarily have their age estimated using Persona technology built directly into the app. The system accesses the device's camera to take a live facial scan and estimate the user's age. This feature will become mandatory in Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand from the first week of December, with a global rollout planned for early January.
Once the check is complete, users are assigned to one of six age brackets: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21+. A key safety change means that users will only be able to chat with peers within their own age group or similar groups, limiting contact between children and adults.
Avoiding the Social Media Ban
The changes come as Australia prepares to implement an under-16s social media ban on 10 December. While gaming platforms are currently exempt, Roblox's chat functionality had placed it under scrutiny. The Australian eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, had been in negotiations with Roblox for several months over safety concerns, which were highlighted by a Guardian Australia investigation documenting virtual sexual harassment experienced by a user profile set up as an eight-year-old.
Roblox's chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, firmly stated the platform should not be classified as social media. "Roblox is two friends coming home after school and playing a game together. That is not social media," he argued, defining social media as platforms centred on feeds and popularity contests. "We do not believe that the social media laws within Australia apply to Roblox."
Questions Over Technology and Data
When questioned if these features were a direct response to avoid the ban, Kaufman described a "constructive dialogue" with the eSafety commissioner, resulting in what he calls the largest example of a platform using age estimation for its entire user base.
However, the Persona technology used by Roblox participated in an Australian age assurance trial that revealed significant inaccuracies. The trial showed a 61.11% false positive rate for 15-year-olds being identified as 16, and a 44.25% rate for 14-year-olds.
Kaufman defended the technology, stating it is accurate within one-to-two years. Users who disagree with the estimation can correct it using government ID or parental controls. Roblox has stated that ID images are stored for 30 days for fraud detection before being deleted. Users who decline the age check will still have access to Roblox but will be blocked from using chat features.
With over 150 million daily users globally, and two-thirds of them aged over 13, this move represents a major step in the ongoing debate about protecting children in digital spaces.
