Gaming platform Roblox to require age checks for chat in the Netherlands this week

Roblox players in the Netherlands will soon need to confirm their age before they can send chat messages to others. The measure aims to protect children from contact with adults.

Starting Tuesday, Roblox users can voluntarily verify their age. The app uses the device’s camera to scan the user’s face, estimating their age through a process called Facial Age Estimation. Roblox assures that the images are deleted immediately after the scan. An external company, Persona, handles the images and provides the AI-based age estimates.

From December, Roblox will start enforcing stricter age verification, beginning in the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. By January, the checks will be rolled out globally. Roblox says the facial scans remain voluntary, but users who opt out will be blocked from using the chat. If the age estimated by the face scan is unreliable, users can confirm their age by submitting an ID.

Roblox assigns users to age categories like “under 13,” “13+,” or “18+” based on their estimated age. When a face scan estimates a user is under 13, their account is updated to “under 13” and specific features, like linking an email or phone number, are disabled. Teenagers aged 13 to 17 can add adults (18+) as Trusted Connections only by using a QR code or their phone contacts.

A Roblox spokesperson said, “We are the first online gaming or communication platform to use facial scans to check users’ ages for chat access. We believe this will become a new industry standard.” Roblox collaborates with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) to introduce standardized age and content ratings across its platform.

It was reported on Tuesday that an international cult is recruiting young people through the popular Roblox horror game Forsaken. The group, called The Cult of Spawn, is said to encourage members to harm themselves, share nude images, and commit suicide. Several young people in the Netherlands are also believed to have fallen under the group’s influence.