3 things parents need to know after $10M Roblox settlement
Roblox, the online gaming company popular with young children, reached a settlement with the state of Nevada in regards to child safety, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced in a press conference Wednesday.
The settlement will see the online game platform, which lets people program and play games created by themselves or others, pay $10 million to the state, make nationwide platform changes, including new parental controls, and other measures.
"This expansion of parental controls allows parents to decide who their children are talking to and the games they are playing on the platform," Ford said, in part.
Roblox, which didn't admit to any wrongdoing, said in a statement to ABC News Thursday the "landmark" settlement agreement "builds on our work to establish a new standard for digital safety."
"This resolution creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect the next generation of digital citizens," Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said. "We have no finish line when it comes to safety, and we are grateful for the Attorney General's advocacy in pioneering this path forward."
Here's what parents need to know about the settlement between Roblox and Nevada.
Roblox is required to improve on safety changes
As part of the settlement agreement, Roblox is committing to implement age verification for all of its users and use age-estimation technology that involves government-issued IDs to verify users' ages. The gaming company said it will also commit to using behavioral monitoring to identify users who may lie about their ages.
Roblox said it will also limit notifications for child users during nighttime hours and won't encrypt messages between children.
The company said the safety changes will go into effect for all users nationally by June.
Roblox agreed to donate money to nondigital groups and programs and fund a safety awareness campaign
Under the settlement, Roblox agreed to pay the state of Nevada $10 million over the next three years to fund screen-free and non-digital programs like Boys and Girls Clubs in the state.
According to its website, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is a national nonprofit that supports children and teens in part through academic, health and leadership programs.
Roblox will also spend $1 million over the next two years on an awareness campaign.
Roblox will now have a law enforcement liaison position to respond to safety concerns
Roblox will also provide $1.5 million under the new settlement to fund a law enforcement liaison position that will partner with law enforcement agencies in Nevada.
