The gaming giant will increase efforts to verify users’ ages and limit unsolicited communications between adults and children.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (CN) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that the state has reached a first-of-its-kind settlement with Roblox Corporation that will force the popular online gaming platform to create major new protections for children, paying up to $12.2 million.
“This is about the young people standing here to my right, making sure they have an opportunity to engage online in a way that is consistent with their parents’ wishes, but also removes the threat from outside predators trying to do bad things,” Marshall said during a news conference where he was joined by law enforcement professionals, parents and school children.
The settlement resolves the state’s concerns about how Roblox protects its youngest users from strangers, inappropriate content and other online dangers, but absolves the company of any wrongdoing.
below the four-year agreementRoblox needs to make some big changes right away: By May 1, every new or existing user will have to verify their age with something stronger than just typing in a birthday. Roblox will use facial age estimation or government identification checks before anyone can use chat features.
Once age is verified, Roblox will block private chats between adult users 18 and older and users under 16, unless the adult is on the child’s small list of “trusted friends” approved by a parent. The company will also continue to send clear warnings to children the first time they start a private conversation, reminding them to talk to strangers and remove conversations from the platform. These reminders will come at least every three months.
Roblox will also create a “default content mode” for users under 16 with access to only games and content that have been screened and rated as appropriate. Experiences labeled for adults or marked “restricted” will be prohibited for minors. Developers who lie about their game content will face warnings, account removals or bans.
Senior Counsel Katherine Robertson, who helped negotiate the settlement for the state, noted that Roblox will use facial recognition features tested and approved by the state, while all messages between adults and children will remain unencrypted.
“My takeaway from this as a mom is that Roblox is meeting parents halfway, but there’s still a hugely important role for parents to play,” she said, encouraging parents to be more engaged with their children’s online activities. “This platform, like any platform that’s accessible online, will always have to deal with new threats. And if it’s not Roblox, it’s going to be someone else.”
New tools for parents will arrive by July 1, allowing administrators of children’s accounts to monitor conversations, connections, spending, online time and content accessed. Roblox will also prompt families to link accounts and block personalized ads for all users under 16.
The company also agreed to publish annual transparency reports on content moderation and security improvements, train Alabama law enforcement and share some of its security technologies with the public. Roblox agreed to continue reporting serious threats to the police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The money from the settlement — $5.7 million in the first year, then $2.5 million each of the next two years and $1.5 million in the fourth year — will go to the Attorney General’s Safe School Initiative Fund. That money could pay for internet safety education, enforcement and other public protection programs.
If Roblox breaks key promises, the state can seek up to $5 million in additional “liquidated damages,” with the amount declining each year.
The deal also includes a “most-favored-nation” clause: If Roblox gives another state better safety rules or bigger payouts in the next four years, Alabama automatically gets the same improvements. The agreement takes effect immediately and runs until 2030 unless extended.
Marshall said the platform has about 100,000 regular users in Alabama.
“We think we’ve created a framework that can be mirrored by states across the country that will not only protect Alabama’s children, but protect America’s children,” he said. “We have zero tolerance for child exploitation and will take action and deliver results when we see Alabama children involved in vulnerable activities.”
Marshall noted that the state has a similar lawsuit pending against TikTok, but he did not provide an update. Elsewhere in the country, Roblox is facing similar lawsuits in Iowa, Florida AND TEXASamong other states. The company is also under fire for allowing underage children right out of the box real money gambling.
Roblox did not immediately return a request for comment.
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