Roblox Is Getting New Parental Controls to Protect Children

Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of attention surrounding Roblox, and the ways in which the developers have failed to install proper safeguards that protect children. Today, Roblox Corporation announced new updates meant to keep players safe. This approach seems to be two-pronged: the developers are not only implementing features to keep kids safe, but they’re also adding new parental control options. The biggest of these changes seems to be remote management, which allows parents to review activity from their own device. This includes things like screen time monitoring, and the ability to see the user’s friend list.

The changes to parental controls will require that the parent has their own Roblox account. The two can be linked together using an ID or credit card. Once the link has been established, new options will be found under parental controls. Not only will parents and caregivers have the option of viewing screen time over the last week, they’ll also be able to set daily limits. If those limits are exceeded, the younger player won’t be able to access the game until the following day. Parents and caregivers will also have access to the player’s friend list. These changes should be available in the game starting today.

Experience guidelines have also seen some changes today, and are now known as content labels. There will be four content labels, which will no longer be grouped by age recommendation. Instead, Roblox experiences will now have labels and descriptions that offer better information about the kinds of content that can be expected. Labels now range from “Minimal, Mild, Moderate, and Restricted.” The goal is to give parents a better understanding of what kind of material will appear in these experiences, and make decisions based on that. Roblox Corporation notes that because some parents have looser or stricter guidelines, it makes more sense to avoid labeling by age. However, by default, players under 9 will only have access to Minimal and Mild content, and Moderate can only be accessed once parents have given consent.

Some experiences will also be age-gated “for users under age 13 based on the type of user behaviors sometimes found in those experiences.” Basically, if Roblox Corporation finds that some experiences feature more mature conversations between users, those will be locked to younger players. These will include “experiences that allow free-form writing and drawing.” As players go up in age, these restrictions will automatically lift, but parents that have linked accounts will be notified 30 days ahead of time.

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In addition to today’s changes, Roblox Corporation has revealed future changes to the chat function for players under the age of 13. Those players will not be able to message other Roblox users “outside of games and experiences.” Through a new built-in setting, users under 13 will only be able to use public broadcast messages in games and experiences by default, though parents will have an option to turn off that limit in settings. Roblox Corporation has not announced a start date for the messaging changes, but it says that “we expect all these changes to be implemented by the first quarter of 2025.”

What do you think of these changes to Roblox? Will these changes make for a safer experience overall? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!