Experts argue that the recent safety enhancements on the widely-used children's gaming platform Roblox do not sufficiently address the issues at hand.
After warning of children encountering inappropriate material and adults making false child profiles to send messages, harass, or exploit them, Roblox implemented these updates. While specialists consider this progress, they believe more needs to be done as risky elements may still persist for susceptible young individuals.
What is Roblox?
Roblox is an extensive platform where users have the ability to make, distribute, and enjoy various games, as mentioned by the source. BBC It houses approximately 40 million user-created games and experiences and boasts more monthly active users than both the Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation together. In the past year, this extensive domain saw an average daily player count exceeding 80 million, with 34 million being kids younger than 13 years old.
Young individuals are attracted to the variety of activities available on Roblox, such as “caring for and customizing digital pets” and engaging in an online version of hide-and-seek utilizing GPS,” according to Joanne Orlando. The Conversation .
So what's the controversy?
Roblox has faced accusations that some kids encountered "explicit or harmful" material, according to the BBC, with several reports of "bullying and grooming."
There has been material featuring players dressed up as members of the KKK, wearing swastikas and using racist terms, said The Times And instances of "sexual exploitation" as well as " grooming by pedophiles" have occurred, according to Orlando from The Conversation.
What are the new safety features?
The new features limit who children can communicate with on Roblox, and what content they can play with: Roblox experiences without a 'maturity-based rating' will be blocked from users under the age of 13, for example.
Mom and dad now possess greater authority to oversee what content their offspring may encounter online. They have the capability to establish usage caps for their children and restrict access to particular games and activities. Additionally, they can review the top twenty interactions their kids had during the last seven days and take action against any dubious individuals listed as friends by flagging or reporting them.
Nevertheless, to utilize the updated features, parents are required to create their own Roblox account where they need to input their credit card information. After completing this step, they will be able to connect their account with their child’s account.
What do experts say?
The new safety features only apply to children under the age of 13, who have parental controls set up on their accounts. This means only those with "vigilant and engaged parents – the children we need to worry least about" – will be better protected, Ian Acheson, a former director of community safety at the Home Office, told The Times For other children who may be more susceptible, they continue to face danger.
Regardless of how attentive parents strive to be, complete oversight has its boundaries. As Justine Roberts, CEO of Mumsnet, explained to the BBC, “No matter how hard we try, life occasionally intervenes.” When you have multiple kids, she adds, “it’s practically impossible to monitor their every move around the clock, even when all parental settings are activated.”
The new measures have "significant limitations" Ashton Kingdon, a criminology lecturer at The University of Southampton, told The Times. There is still "no proper user verification to prevent adults from creating fake accounts".
Roblox co-founder and CEO Dave Baszucki insisted his company is vigilant in protecting users. But his "first message" to parents is "if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox".
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