This past year, countless social media and gaming platforms have started to crack down on underage users. Experts and lawmakers worldwide are prioritising online child safety, leading to an abundance of age verification measures being implemented.
There are two ways to verify your age on Roblox: ID verification and facial verification, which is where the platform verifies your age via photos and videos of you that you take with your camera.
ID verification is only available for those aged 13 and above, so many users are relying on facial recognition verification alone. However, some Robloxers have apparently found a loophole when it comes to facial verification via camera.
TikToker uses makeup to bypass age verification process
In a viral TikTok, which has amassed 854,000 views, user Sofia (@sofiafiguer.sd) shared a video of herself going through the age verification process on Roblox with what she called the "old person makeup trick."
Essentially, she drew on subtle smile and worry lines to make her face seem more aged, and in the end, Roblox determined that she looked 21+.
However, commenters shared their experiences of how unreliable this age verification process really was.
"I’m 20, and it gave me 12+," one claimed. "I got 16-17," a second revealed, before adding, "I'm 13."
While a third echoed: "I got put in 16-17, I’m 20."
Sofia didn't immediately respond to The Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comment.
What's going on with Roblox?
Roblox is one of the latest platforms to go down the age verification route. Recently, the platform made it so that users can only access the 'chat' function if they pass the age verification checks.
Essentially, there are six different chats for various age categories, so that users can interact with people close in age. These categories are: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, and 21+.
As well as having access to their age-specific chat, Roblox users will be able to access the chats in the age ranges directly above or below them.
However, Roblox players are very unhappy with this rule. Some have re-created ICE protests out of frustration, while others have started selling pre-verified Reddit accounts on eBay.
The question is, will they close the loophole? Only time will tell.
Roblox responded to the Daily Dot's inquiry with the following statement: "Our Facial Age Estimation process is built to see through these tactics. We use ‘liveness’ signals and advanced fraud checks specifically designed to detect and flag manipulated appearances—such as makeup or digital filters—to support an accurate estimation. To further strengthen our community safety, we have also begun testing Continuous Age Checks; if platform signals suggest a user’s behavior doesn’t match their declared age, they will be prompted to age check again to confirm their age group."
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