Roblox Complies with Indonesian Regulations, Impact Felt Worldwide
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Roblox has announced a new policy requiring child and teenage users to have special accounts. This special account is a response to the wave of restrictions on children’s access to social media by governments worldwide, including Indonesia.
In its announcement quoted by Reuters, Roblox stated that the account categories are applied using a user age verification system or through parental verification. Children aged 5 to 8 can only have “Roblox Kids” accounts, while users aged 9 to 15 can only have “Roblox Select” accounts.
These special accounts for children and teenagers will begin implementation in early June.
“At the same time, we will introduce new requirements regarding content and game standards that appear in Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts,” said Roblox’s Chief Safety Officer, Matt Kaufman.
He explained that games appearing in Roblox Kids accounts will be restricted based on maturity levels and must undergo a strict three-step review process. The three steps that game developers must go through are identity verification, two-step verification, and subscribing to Roblox Plus.
The Roblox Plus subscription account was announced by Roblox last weekend and will be available from 30 April. Users who subscribe must pay US$4.99 (Rp86,000) per month.
Meanwhile, the chat feature in Roblox Kids is disabled, and it will be available gradually for Roblox Select accounts.
Roblox’s steps are driven by policy changes by governments worldwide regarding internet social media platforms. Roblox, which has interactive features, is one of the platforms accused of failing to protect children from exploitation and sexual predators.
Governments around the world are now beginning to implement rules that restrict or prohibit children and teenagers from accessing social media.
In Indonesia, Roblox is one of eight platforms required to implement access restrictions for children and teenagers. Access restrictions for Indonesian citizens aged 16 or younger are regulated under PP Tunas.