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Roblox to begin using 'facial age estimation technology' on its users, promises to 'limit communication between adults and minors unless they know each other in the real world'


The new system, combined with verified IDs and parental consent, "will provide a more accurate measure of a user's age" than what's available now.

Perhaps with good reason, as the tech has proven somewhat dodgy: People in the UK, for instance, were famously able to get around Discord's age verification system by using Death Stranding's photo mode. It has an absolutely massive audience—one recent weekend apparently saw more concurrent players than all of Steam combined —but it's also facing a growing backlash against a perceived inability to keep young kids away from the worst of the internet. An August crackdown on "vigilantes," including a ban of popular Roblox YouTuber Schlep, attracted the attention of Chris Hansen, formerly the host of the early 2000s television series To Catch a Predator.

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Roblox will require age verification for all users to access communication features