The gaming platform Roblox will introduce restrictions on communication between children and adult players in June, but experts have warned that criminals will still find ways to seek out victims online, ERR News reports.
Roblox will introduce age-based user grouping, depriving younger players of the ability to use the chat window, in the hope of reducing their visibility to unfamiliar adult accounts. Inger Klesment, a media literacy expert at the University of Tartu, told ERR that gaming and social media platforms have long failed to limit the circle of people who can communicate with children, often prioritizing profit over safety. According to Klesment, the introduction of restrictions can sometimes be simply a marketing tactic, trying to create the impression of a safe environment.
Police Captain Maarja Punak said adults use various platforms to communicate with children, and stressed that gaming platforms are a particularly suitable environment for this, as children often assume that other players are their age. Punak said that the goal of criminals is not always to get them to meet in person – some want to get children to hand over private images, which can lead to blackmail, demanding more photos or money. The police officer described a case in which an adult sent a child a private photo and a phone number in order to arrange a meeting. The child told her parents about the incident, who reported it to the police, who determined that
the phone number belonged to a convicted pedophile.
Some criminals create fake accounts, pretending to be peers, and try to redirect conversations to other apps, and Punak said such efforts are a huge red flag. She stressed that the role of parents is particularly important, and children need to know that anything that causes concern on the Internet should be reported to their parents, and any suspicious communication should also be reported to the police.
Klesment said that before allowing children to play new games, parents should test them themselves to assess whether they provide a good experience and check who the child can communicate with. Children should also play games on larger screens so that it is easier for parents to supervise them. The expert added that even on platforms designed for children, such as YouTube Kids, a seemingly harmless video with familiar characters can turn into unpleasant content within a few minutes.
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