Roblox agrees to $12 million settlement with Nevada

This week, amid an ongoing legal dispute with multiple states and more than 100 pending lawsuits Roblox announces $12 million settlement with Nevadaallowing the company to avoid going to trial in this case.

After the agreement was signed, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said: “This settlement will create a safer online environment for our children, and I hope it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms can engage our state’s youth with their products.” As part of the agreement, Roblox agreed to provide $10 million over three years to local child support programs, such as boys and girls club and other non-digital groups, while spending an additional $2.5 million to fund law enforcement liaison positions and awareness campaigns about cybersecurity.

In addition, Roblox will implement stricter security protocols, including an age verification system that combines a facial age estimation system with a government-issued ID to only allow children to talk to other players of a similar age. In addition, users under the age of 16 are not allowed to send messages to adults unless they have been designated as a “trusted friend” (which can be designated via a QR code). The purpose of this is to ensure that any adults speaking to minors on the platform have an existing relationship with the child.

Parental controls apply to user accounts under the age of 16 (the previous limit was 13). The company said it will also create children’s accounts for anyone under 16, limit access to adult content and provide a list of games that have been vetted for younger players. The changes follow a recent update that established new guidelines for Roblox Kids accounts (for kids ages 5 to 8) and Roblox Select accounts (for kids ages 9 to 15), which have different content and chat limits.

However, while Roblox has reached a settlement with Nevada, the company still faces multiple lawsuits from other parties and states including Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, and others alleging that the platform knowingly facilitated child sexual exploitation.