Roblox Reached a $12 Million Settlement with Nevada to Impliment Youth Protections
Roblox has always been the center of attention when it comes to keeping children safe while on its platform. But thankfully, Roblox reached a $12 million settlement with Nevada to implement youth protections.
The interactive gaming platform will finally implement increased protections for young users and pay more than $12 million to the state of Nevada in what the state’s attorney general, Aaron Ford, on Wednesday called a “first-of-its-kind agreement.”
“This settlement will create a safer environment for our children online, and I hope that it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms allow our state’s youth to use their products,” Ford said. The agreement will also see the developer give $10 million over three years to support the Boys & Girls Club and other groups like it.
According to Gamespot, additional money for the agreement will help fund the creation of a “law enforcement liaison position” and to help fund an online safety awareness campaign.
The settlement was agreed upon in lieu of litigation, which includes enhanced protections for minors who use the app, such as requiring age verification for all users and restricting nighttime notifications for minors. The agreement will also see Roblox implementing facial age estimation technology to limit younger users’ chats to only those in similar age groups. Adult users and users under 16 will not be allowed to chat unless they are communicating with a trusted friend, Ford said.
Apparently, the trusted friend can be added through a QR code or their phone contacts to ensure the child knows the person outside the platform. The company will also monitor activity to ensure that users aren’t lying about their age.
Along with that, Roblox will create kids accounts for users under the age of 16 that block access to adult-rated content. The agreement expands to parental oversight of users under 16.
But Nevada isn’t the only state in which the gaming platform faces litigation; other states, including Texas and Kentucky, have alleged that Roblox has failed to protect children.
Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, said in a statement that “Roblox is proud to have worked alongside Attorney General Ford to reach this landmark agreement, which builds on our work to establish a new standard for digital safety.”
This news is right after the announcement that the PS5 is getting a native version of Roblox this week, adding faster load time and other features to make playing on a controller more comfortable.
