Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
Online interactive gaming platform Roblox has agreed to settle with West Virginia, Alabama, and Nevada for a combined $35.78 million, committing to strengthen children’s safety through measures such as mandatory age verification and chat restrictions.
Roblox reached an $11.08 million settlement with West Virginia. In an April 21 statement, the office of West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey said that Roblox hasagreed to “major child safety overhaul.”The settlement came after an investigation conducted by the office found that the platform exposed child users to sexual predators, sexual and violent content, and grooming risks.
McCuskey said there were “serious failures that left children exposed to real danger.”
Under the agreement, Roblox will verify the ages of all users before allowing chat access. This is expected to limit instances of adults contacting minors and reduce the risk of grooming.The company will block all chat until users verify their age, seeking to reduce the use of anonymous accounts by predators to target children.
Once age verification is complete, adults can contact under-16 users only through verified trusted friends, according to the statement. The accounts of all under-16 users will, by default, run on safe content mode, which will reportedly block out adult-rated material.
Roblox has also committed to recruiting an internet safety specialist in West Virginia. The settlement funds will be paid over several years.
“I have two young daughters who love Roblox, so I know how popular it is,” McCuskey said.“I am thankful that Roblox took our concerns seriously and worked with us to make these major safety changes.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced in an April 21 statement that the state has reached a $12.2 million settlement with Roblox.
Under the deal, Roblox has agreed to verify the age of users and restrict content accordingly,use facial estimation technology and government ID to verify users, and utilize behavioral monitoring to identify those whose ages may have been recorded incorrectly.
Source: ZeroHedge News
