JAKARTA, Indonesia — The children’s gaming platform Roblox announced Thursday it will implement facial scanning technology to verify the ages of users under 16 in Indonesia, marking the company’s response to new government restrictions on youth access to digital platforms.
During a Jakarta press conference, Nicky Jackson Colaco, who serves as Roblox’s vice president and global head of public policy, revealed these changes represent some of the most stringent measures the platform has ever enacted worldwide.
The company has created two distinct account types specifically for Indonesian users: Roblox Kids designed for children ages 5 to 12 without any chat capabilities, and Roblox Select for teens ages 13 to 15, which allows limited chat functions only with parents or approved family members and friends.
This implementation will automatically affect 23 million existing accounts that were identified as belonging to users under 16, requiring them to complete age verification through facial scanning technology.
“Any user in Indonesia who has not used that tool, who has no facial age estimated, will be automatically placed in a Roblox Kids account and will not have access to chat,” Jackson Colaco explained.
The verification process requires users to record a video selfie that analyzes their age, though Jackson Colaco emphasized the information is immediately destroyed afterward. “We don’t keep anything,” she stated.
According to Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid, Indonesia hosts roughly 45 million Roblox users, with approximately 23 million being children.
Indonesian authorities designated Roblox as the sole gaming platform classified as high-risk, resulting in access limitations for children that differ from other social media platforms.
Beyond age-based account categories and interaction restrictions, the gaming platform will also organize available games by age groups. Government regulations have also pushed Roblox to establish usage time limits aimed at preventing children from developing platform addiction.
“To address concerns about addiction, screen time limits are now in place. Parents can set specific times or hours for their children to play games,” Hafid noted.
Indonesia launched new government regulations in late March that prohibit children under 16 from accessing digital platforms that might expose them to addiction, pornography, online fraud, and cyberbullying.
Among the eight platforms identified as high-risk, seven companies including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and Bigo Live have agreed to implement access restrictions for children.
Beyond age-based access controls, Indonesia is also requesting social media companies and digital platforms to provide data on suspended accounts as part of enforcing the new regulations protecting children.
