Month: November 2025

Roblox is rolling out stricter age-verification requirements and new age-segmented chat systems as it faces mounting legal and regulatory pressure over child safety on the platform. The company confirmed Tuesday that users who want to access private or expanded communication features will soon need to complete an AI-driven age check, with additional limits designed to prevent adults and minors from interacting unless they already know each other offline.

The platform will use facial age-estimation technology provided by Persona, requiring users who opt in to record a brief video selfie. Roblox says the footage is deleted once the age check is completed. Players who decline the scan can still use the platform but will not be able to message others freely. The company notes that children under 13 are already barred from chatting outside of in-game channels without verified parental permission, and private chats remain unencrypted so moderation teams can review communications for safety concerns.

Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, said the age-estimation tool is generally accurate within one to two years for users between roughly five and 25. He added that those who feel their estimated age is incorrect may verify with a government ID or rely on parental consent. “But of course, there’s always people who may be well outside of a traditional bell curve. And in those cases, if you disagree with the estimate that comes back, then you can provide an ID or use parental consent in order to correct that,” he said.

Once verified, players will be sorted into six age brackets—under 9; 9–12; 13–15; 16–17; 18–20; and 21+—and allowed to chat only with their own or nearby age groups, depending on the feature being used. Roblox plans to begin enforcing these requirements in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in early December, with a global rollout scheduled for January. The company is also launching a new online safety center to guide families through parental controls and upcoming policy changes.

These moves come as Roblox confronts a surge of legal challenges. Dozens of families, along with attorneys general in Kentucky and Louisiana, are suing the company—alongside platforms like Discord—accusing them of failing to prevent predators from contacting children. Florida’s attorney general is conducting a separate investigation into Roblox’s safety practices.

Tech companies across the industry have been accelerating age-verification efforts to comply with new laws and respond to criticism. Google is testing AI-based age checks for YouTube, while Instagram is experimenting with tools to identify users misrepresenting their age.

Roblox previously outlined its intention to broaden age checks for all users seeking access to communication tools, and the new measures represent the most significant expansion of those plans to date.

Editorial credit: mitagalihs / Shutterstock.com

The Senate unanimously agreed to send the House-backed Epstein bill to President Trump’s desk on Tuesday, which came shortly after the House overwhelmingly voted to pass legislation to compel the Justice Department to release all its records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The chamber passed the bipartisan bill – known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act – in a vote of 427-1, with only Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) voting in opposition. The measure secured enough bipartisan support to head straight to the House floor last week, and was boosted over the weekend after President Donald Trump reversed his position and urged Republicans to support it.

The bill will force the DOJ to publicly release files related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of it being signed into law, with some exceptions for survivors’ personal information and other sensitive material.

The unanimous action by the Senate means there will be no amendments or changes to the bill, despite House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team urging. Johnson – who originally opposed the effort but ultimately supported final passage — had said he expected the Senate to fix what he called “serious deficiencies” in the bill. While Johnson voted for the measure, he had argued that the bill doesn’t adequately protect victims of Epstein: “I talked to John Thune over the weekend. I just texted him. We’re going to get together and we’ll talk about this. There’s an easy way to amend the legislation to make sure we don’t do permanent damage to the justice system and I’m going to insist upon that.”

Editorial credit: Matt Gush / Shutterstock.com