Photo credit: Photo by Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com on Unsplash
Roblox, the massively popular online gaming and creation platform, has taken a significant step in boosting safety and privacy for its teenage users. As of this week, the company has announced a new age verification system targeting users between the ages of 13 and 17 who wish to access a specialized communication feature known as Trusted Connections.
This move comes as part of a larger initiative aimed at strengthening security, protecting minors, and addressing growing concerns about online safety and inappropriate interactions on digital platforms frequented by children and teenagers.
What Is Roblox and Why Is It Popular Among Teens?
For those unfamiliar, Roblox is not a single game but rather a sprawling digital universe where users can create, play, and socialize across millions of user-generated experiences. With its blocky graphics and sandbox-style interaction, Roblox allows users to build their own games, explore others’ creations, and form social connections in the process.
The platform boasts over 70 million daily active users, many of whom are under the age of 18. It serves as both a game and a social hub — where young users can hang out, play together, and even chat using voice and text. While this interactivity is part of Roblox’s charm, it also introduces considerable safety risks.
Introducing “Trusted Connections”: Communication Without Filters — But With Limitations
To enhance the platform’s social features, Roblox has introduced a new system called Trusted Connections. This feature allows verified teen users to connect with one another and communicate via unfiltered voice and chat, which means conversations will not pass through Roblox’s default moderation system that typically censors profanity, sensitive data, or inappropriate content.
However, this level of open communication comes with guardrails.
- Age verification is now required to access Trusted Connections.
- Teen users must submit a video selfie, which is analyzed using AI-based technology developed by a company called Persona.
- This AI system estimates the user’s age and assigns them to an appropriate age bracket on the platform.
- If the system is unable to determine the user’s age or if it gets the estimate wrong, users will have the option to manually verify their identity with official identification documents.
Once a teen’s age is verified, they can invite other similarly verified users to become Trusted Connections. But adding adults — anyone over 18 — as Trusted Connections involves extra precautions: it must be done in-person through a QR code scan or by using a contact importer tool. This aims to prevent unsolicited adult-teen connections, a known vulnerability in many online spaces.
Why Age Verification Matters More Than Ever
Online platforms like Roblox are under increasing scrutiny for how they handle child safety. In recent years, reports of grooming, inappropriate conversations, and predatory behavior have plagued platforms popular with minors. Critics have long pointed out that bad actors exploit loopholes to engage young users in private chats — or worse, persuade them to move their interactions off-platform to less regulated spaces like Discord or Instagram DMs, where moderation is minimal or non-existent.
In 2023, Roblox faced a class-action lawsuit filed by multiple families, accusing the company of negligence in protecting underage users from exposure to explicit content and inappropriate encounters. While Roblox denied the allegations, the lawsuit intensified public and legal pressure on all tech platforms that host young users to reevaluate and strengthen their safety protocols.
The rollout of Trusted Connections and age verification is Roblox’s latest response to these concerns.
A Proactive Approach to Online Safety
In a blog post accompanying the new feature launch, Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s Chief Safety Officer, emphasized the platform’s ongoing commitment to user safety and explained the rationale behind the new verification process.
“This additional freedom to chat more openly with trusted connections reduces the incentive for teens to move interactions off platform, where they may be exposed to greater risk,” Kaufman stated.
In other words, if Roblox can make its in-platform communication both safe and enjoyable, it reduces the need for teens to seek alternative, less secure ways to socialize online.
Kaufman also noted that age verification has been under evaluation at Roblox for some time. However, the company felt now was the right time to implement it due to the availability of new, sophisticated safety tools tailored for teens.
Beyond Communication: Additional Safety and Privacy Features
While Trusted Connections is the headline feature, it is just one part of a broader safety and wellness toolkit introduced by Roblox in this update. Other new capabilities include:
1. Privacy and Visibility Settings
Teens now have more control over their visibility on the platform. They can decide who sees their online status, or even choose to appear invisible altogether — an important privacy measure that gives users greater autonomy.
2. Do Not Disturb Mode
A new Do Not Disturb feature allows users to mute notifications when they want to focus on gaming or just take a break from social interactions.
3. Screen Time Limits
Parents and users themselves can set daily time limits, helping teens develop healthier digital habits and avoid excessive screen time.
4. Financial Alerts
Parents can opt to receive real-time notifications of in-game financial transactions, giving them better oversight of their child’s spending within the platform.
5. Parental Oversight of Connections
With the teen’s consent, parents will be able to see their child’s Connections and Trusted Connections, helping families stay informed without resorting to intrusive monitoring.
These added features provide a multi-layered safety net and reflect Roblox’s evolving approach toward responsible platform design. Instead of assuming one-size-fits-all restrictions, the company is moving toward a flexible but verified model — empowering teens while still safeguarding them.
Balancing Freedom and Responsibility
The tension between user freedom and platform safety is not unique to Roblox. It is a challenge faced by all digital platforms catering to young people. Teens want — and deserve — some degree of independence online. But with that independence must come a system that ensures their mental well-being, safety, and informed digital literacy.
What makes Roblox’s latest effort stand out is that it attempts to strike that balance. By verifying age and offering new privacy tools, the company is building a framework where responsible digital interaction can flourish — without sacrificing user experience.
Furthermore, by allowing parental involvement (not control) through features like connection visibility and spending alerts, Roblox is taking a more transparent, cooperative approach to safety, rather than merely imposing rules behind the scenes.
Industry Implications: Setting a Precedent?
Roblox’s move could have ripple effects across the gaming and social tech industries. With AI-powered age verification now being adopted at scale, other companies — from Minecraft to TikTok — may soon feel compelled to follow suit, especially as governments across the globe push for stronger online protections for minors.
In Europe, laws like the Digital Services Act already impose responsibilities on platforms to verify users’ ages and shield children from harmful content. In the U.S., several states are debating legislation that would require verifiable parental consent for minors to access certain features on digital platforms.
In this context, Roblox’s proactive rollout of safety tools isn’t just a PR win — it’s a potential industry standard setter.
Final Thought
The internet, for all its innovation and freedom, is still a wild terrain, especially for young minds. Platforms like Roblox, which are virtual playgrounds for millions of kids and teens, have a moral and legal obligation to build safe, transparent, and age-appropriate experiences.
With the introduction of Trusted Connections, AI-based age verification, and a suite of parental tools, Roblox is demonstrating a deeper awareness of that responsibility. While no system is perfect, and critics will continue to scrutinize its effectiveness, this initiative represents a meaningful step in the right direction — one where freedom, safety, and accountability can co-exist.
