South West Grid for Learning
The introduction of the Online Safety Bill earlier this year has brought welcome controls over what we and our children can access online. As internet speeds have increased and the digital world has expanded, the ability for anyone of any age to reach almost any content has grown at a pace far beyond our capacity to safeguard against it. The risks have become unmistakable. Adults now face increasingly sophisticated attacks from hackers and scammers, while children remain acutely vulnerable to online predators.
Although some internet services initially resisted tighter regulation, the government’s commitment to reducing online harms has ultimately prevailed. For children, one of the most persistent avenues for predatory behaviour has been online video games. These are spaces where young users gather, communicate, and interact, often with limited verification or oversight.
Roblox, a platform widely associated with younger players, is now beginning to address this by introducing facial analysis age checks and optional ID verification for users over 13. These real-world verification measures are designed to confirm a user’s age more accurately and to restrict interactions that could place children at risk. In practice, they signal an important shift in how major platforms are starting to manage online safety and respond to the expectations set out in the Bill.
You can read more about these checks on the SWGfL website:
https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/roblox-announces-facial-age-checks-for-chat-features/