Roblox grapples with how to keep kids safe from predators
Roblox grapples with how to keep kids safe from predators
The online gaming platform Roblox — which allows users to create and develop their own games — has attracted the attention of some 78 million daily users. More than 40% of them are pre-teens.
But according to new reporting from Bloomberg, the gaming empire has struggled to keep the platform safe from online predators. Olivia Carville is an investigative reporter for Bloomberg News and recently broke the story about Roblox’s predator problem.
She recently spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: The thing about Roblox is that you can play it, but you can also make. You can create for it. There’s an in-game currency that’s exchanged; there’s an in-game messaging system. Does that lead to vulnerabilities?
Olivia Carville: Yeah, that’s right. I mean, Roblox really is social media for the youngest generation. Inside Roblox, you have 13 million different games that are developed and created by users of the platform, and you can jump from game to game. And because there are so many spaces inside this platform and so many messages being sent between users who are playing its games, it is really hard to moderate. We describe it in the story as a “Sisyphean task” for the moderators. Those are human and AI technology that Roblox uses. It’s just really difficult to moderate.
Brancaccio: And you found dangerous creeps that lurk within?
Carville: Yeah, that’s right. Predators have been using the Internet to connect with children since it was first created. I think what’s different about this story is we’ve actually seen predators, pedophiles and — in some really unfortunate cases — registered sex offenders gaining access to Roblox to use the platform and its games to groom and befriend children.
Brancaccio: What does Roblox do about this? Well, how do they respond to your reporting, I should say?
Carville: Roblox, in its response to us, it kind of rejected that it had a systemic problem with child endangerment on its platform. It explained all of the different safety features and tools that it has on the platform. The company says safety and civility are really foundational to its existence, so they really feel like they have very robust safety tools in place. But obviously, like most internet companies, more can always be done. And you know, they say that it’s an ongoing mission to keep their users as safe as possible.
Brancaccio: So grown-ups who have responsibility for children on these sites are listening to this, concerned. Do they have to play a more active role in supervising kids playing or could technology come to the rescue?
Carville: I think it’s both. I’m not a parent myself, and I appreciate how challenging it would be to be a parent in today’s world. So, if parents have young children using this, I think trying to become familiar with Roblox itself: what actually is it, understand that your children can talk to strangers in this space. You can toggle on and off how many people your child can talk to. Can they talk to anyone at all? Can they only talk to their friends? What experiences can they enter in the game? And know that sometimes your child could go back in and switch those off, as well. So making sure that you’re on top of what the safety features and tools Roblox offers are and talking to your child about what they’re experiencing inside the platform, I think, is also something that parents can do. Just try and have an open dialog about what they’re seeing in the game. Because, you know, as a parent, you can’t sit and watch what your children are doing in any moment inside Roblox — it’s too big, and kids love it too much. They want to be on it all the time.
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