- Roblox releases three AI models to detect grooming and requests for personal data.
- The company faces regulatory pressure in Australia and the US, with fines and lawsuits.
- Parental controls and stricter age verification are being implemented.
- The collaboration with ROOST allows other platforms to use these tools.
The Roblox video game platform has become the center of an intense debate about protecting minors online. Authorities in several countries, especially Australia and the United States, have focused on the company's security measures, which now compels it to strengthen its systems to prevent grooming, the solicitation of personal data, and other risks. Regulatory pressure and lawsuits have led the company to take action.
In recent weeks, Roblox has announced the release of three artificial intelligence models designed to detect threats in real time, in addition to implementing stricter age verification and improved parental controls. These actions aim to address criticism and real-life cases that have come to light, such as the lawsuit filed by the mother of a 13-year-old girl who died after interacting with dangerous content on the platform. The company maintains that its priority is creating a safer environment , but experts are calling for greater transparency.
Regulatory and legal pressure
Roblox's commitment to the Australian Online Safety Commission (eSafety) has been a watershed moment. The company agreed to undergo external audits and modify its child protection controls within three months, after it was shown that adults could contact minors without restrictions. Furthermore, in the United States, the Senate has launched an investigation after reports of child sexual exploitation doubled in 2025, reaching 65.381 cases. The company has also faced fines, such as the one in Nevada , which amounted to $12 million, and lawsuits like the Audree case, which questions the validity of arbitration clauses accepted by minors.
The case of Audree Heine, a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide in 2024, has brought a complex legal debate to the forefront. Roblox claims that the minor accepted the terms of service 28 times, but her mother maintains that an eight-year-old cannot understand the legal consequences. A California court rejected a similar arbitration request in 2024 , while another ordered it to proceed in 2026. This disparity in rulings reflects the difficulty of applying the law to digital services aimed at minors.
New artificial intelligence tools
Roblox has released three AI models under the ROOST initiative, a technology community that includes Google, OpenAI, and Discord. The first is a Personally Identifiable Information (PII) classifier that detects attempts to share data such as phone numbers or email addresses, with accuracy increasing from 63% to 90% in version 2.0. The second, called Sentinel, identifies early signs of grooming by comparing chat patterns; over the past year, it has detected 70% of reported cases of child endangerment. The third analyzes voice conversations in real time , supporting 30 languages and boasting a 1% false positive rate.
These models are available for other platforms to adapt, which could raise the standard of security across the entire digital ecosystem. The collaboration with ROOST aims to give companies with fewer resources access to advanced tools , although Roblox cautions that no system is infallible. In fact, an external study analyzed more than two million messages and found cases of grooming that went undetected. Therefore, the company emphasizes the importance of parental supervision and digital literacy.
Parental controls and recommendations
Roblox has segmented accounts by age: Kids and Select accounts have specific chat filters and restrictions. Parents can adjust these settings to limit who their children contact and what content they see. The company recommends reviewing these controls regularly and maintaining open communication with children about online risks. It also advises treating any request to move the conversation off the platform as a red flag, and teaching children how to block and report suspicious users.
In Europe, concerns about child safety on platforms like Roblox have also led regulators to demand greater transparency. While there is no specific data for Spain, EU regulations such as the GDPR require companies to protect children's data. Roblox's openness regarding its AI models could serve as a benchmark for other companies operating in the European market, which now have the opportunity to adopt these tools to improve their own protections.
Ultimately, Roblox is responding to criticism with concrete measures, but the road to effective child safety is still long. The combination of age verification, artificial intelligence, and parental controls is a step in the right direction, but cases of abuse and lawsuits demonstrate that technology alone is not enough. Collaboration between platforms, regulators, and families will be key to protecting minors in an increasingly complex digital environment. In the meantime, parents must stay informed and actively participate in their children's digital lives.
