Roblox CEO tells parents to ban kids from playing if they have concerns about safety
Roblox CEO David Bashutsky is urging parents who are concerned about their children's safety to not allow them to play the game, he told the BBC in an interview, where he also noted that the company is doing everything it can to protect children on the platform.
Roblox has been at the center of numerous scandals over potential dangers to children, including cases of them being drawn into gambling, leading to significant financial losses. At the same time, Baszucki assures that the company cares about user safety and emphasizes that "tens of millions" of people are having a "great experience" on the platform.
"My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox. That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions," the company's director noted.
Roblox is one of the largest gaming platforms in the world. In 2024, more than 80 million users logged in daily, of which about 40% were children under the age of 13. Users can create a variety of gaming experiences on their own, and sometimes they violate community guidelines and contribute to bullying of children or expose children to harmful content.
"We do in the company take the attitude that any bad, even one bad incident, is one too many. We watch for bullying, we watch for harassment, we filter all of those kinds of things, and I would say behind the scenes, the analysis goes on all the way to, if necessary, reaching out to law enforcement," said Baszucki.
Baszucki also notes that Roblox analyzes all messages that pass between users on the platform and takes appropriate action against users who choose not to demonstrate what he calls "civility." In November 2024, the company also banned direct messages to children under 13, as well as in-game activities that involve chat between players.
Despite all efforts to filter messages and adhere to community guidelines, BBC journalists were able to create two fake accounts: one with a stated age of 15, the other 27. Although the system attempted to detect attempts to move communication outside the platform, it could easily be circumvented by reframing the message.
When Baszucki presented the findings, he said the incident only underscores Roblox’s relative safety. He said rule-breakers are being forced to find other platforms to socialize. He also acknowledged that there is a delicate balance between encouraging friendships among young people and limiting risky interactions, but he expressed confidence that Roblox can do both.