1 week Ago By Justin Carter
New child safety protocols have come to Roblox, and parents now have greater insight into what their kids are doing on the creation platform. As part of the new reforms, parents can access parental control features from their own devices, rather than needing their child's to do it. They can now link their accounts to their child's, which lets them see their child's friends list and play time, and establish limits on screentime, in-game content, and how much real-world money is spent on Roblox .
These features were first reported by Bloomberg in October, and have been deemed "a considerable leap forward" by Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) CEO Stephen Balkam. "By offering robust tools for non-intrusive monitoring and privacy, Roblox is providing families with the confidence they need to foster a secure and enriching online environment," he said in a statement. Roblox's new safety measures in context Roblox Corp.
's new safety rules come after numerous reports concerning the lack of real protections for its young and teenage players. Part of how it's addressing those concerns is by having content creators answer a questionnaire that have age-appropriate summaries and images for their experiences targeted toward players age 13 and under. For players, Roblox Corp.
is also establishing built-in settings that limit players age 13 and younger to publicly broadcast messages solely within a Roblox game or experience. By default, players younger than 13 are no longer able to directly message others, which the company said can be tweaked in Parental Controls. Additionally, certain experiences will be age-gated: players 9 years old and younger can only access "Minimal" or "Mild"-rated content by default, and unlocking "Moderate" content will require a parent's permission.
Again, Bloomberg first reported these features, which were not included in the recently-revealed safety changes . Michelle Lipkin, executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) noted these options and parental controls "addresses what all companies should: the need to improve safety features for kids and empower parents with the tools they need to help their kids navigate the complex media ecosystem.".
