🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Roblox is rolling out some of its toughest safety features in Indonesia

• To meet Indonesia’s new limits for users under 16, Roblox will require facial age checks for all users in that group in Indonesia 1.
• It will add Roblox Kids for ages 5 to 12 with no chat, plus Roblox Select for ages 13 to 15 with chat limited to family and friends 2.
• Chat will turn off automatically for Indonesian users under 16 who do not verify their age 2.
• Roblox called these rules among the strictest protections it offers anywhere in the world 1.
• The local focus makes sense because 23 million of its 45 million users in Indonesia are younger than 16 2.

Indonesia’s rules could become a model for big tech

• These rules cover more than Roblox. Indonesia also classifies YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram as high-risk platforms 3.
• Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to bar children under 16 from holding accounts on several large platforms 4.
• The ban covers YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Roblox. Australia had taken a similar step earlier 4.
• The policy could push global platforms to build country-specific products, which may split the online experience for younger users by market 5.
• If the rules work, other countries may copy them. That would raise costs and add more local product work for global tech companies 5.