Users over 13 years old will be prompted to use the facial-analysis software to estimate their age and determine whether they can access the new "trusted connections" feature that allows them to engage in private, unfiltered chats with other age-screened users, Ebanks said.
Roblox's use of age-estimation tech will help the company "confirm the age of our users and give them more tailored and age-appropriate features," said Ryan Ebanks, a Roblox principal product manager for social products.
Social media companies like Meta , X and Snap contend that app store operators should be tasked with verifying people's ages, while Apple and Google have argued otherwise.
The company's use of age-screening tech, provided by the identity verification company Persona, comes as several states, like Utah, have established age-verification laws requiring app store owners like Apple and Google to verify the age of their users.
Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said that the company felt it was the right time to implement age-estimation software to coincide with "features that we really believe are something that should be limited to an older audience — 13 and over."
Roblox announced the start of age-verification technology Thursday for users who want to chat more freely on the social-gaming platform as part of its new "trusted connections" feature.
What used to be known as a Roblox user's "friends" will now be called "connections," said Ebanks.
A Roblox user's "trusted connections" are essentially a subset of their connections that they "know and trust" and can communicate with on the platform without experiencing certain content filters that proactively screen for offensive language deemed inappropriate for children, Ebanks explained.
Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 must use a QR scan or Roblox's contact importer tool to add other users they know in real life who are over the age of 18 as trusted connections, the company said.
Kaufman said that up until now, all private messages have been filtered to block profanity and things that are "inappropriate for a platform of all ages."
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