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Roblox’s vice president of safety product policy, Eliza Jacobs, told NBC News that Roblox is “optimistic” that its new facial age estimation tech will “continue to get better,” saying, “Ticking a box to say you’re 13 or older, it’s not enough anymore.” NBC invited a group of kids to try out Roblox’s new video selfie age check process, but they weren’t able to get around it with a fake mustache. Jacobs claims Roblox’s facial age estimates can typically land “within 1.4 years of a child’s exact age.”
Roblox announced plans in April to begin using its video selfie age estimation tech to sort players into age brackets. Users under 16 and under 9 are now sorted into Roblox Select and Kids accounts, respectively, with restricted access to chat and certain types of games. Players can also use a government ID to verify their age, or parents can manually set their child’s age group.
In April, Roblox reported a drop in daily users after rolling out age checks. However, Jacobs stood by the platform’s age verification measures, saying, “We have a long-term vision of safety and civility on the platform that we’re building towards that we believe in.” She added, “It’s OK if some people are not always happy about that.”