The Philippine government and Roblox have agreed to explore stronger age verification measures, including possible integration with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), as authorities push online platforms to tighten safeguards for children.
The commitments were reached during a meeting led by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) secretary Henry Aguda with Roblox and officials from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), Congress, and the Office of the Executive Secretary.
Under the agreement, Roblox and the government will establish a technical working group to examine facial age estimation, ID verification, and possible PhilSys verification. The government will nominate representatives to the group.
Roblox also committed to providing relevant information to authorized Philippine authorities, subject to applicable laws and due process requirements, to support investigations and case-building.
Authorized government agencies will continue to be onboarded to Roblox’s Kodex Law Enforcement Portal, which provides a 24/7 channel for investigations and legal requests. Roblox will also designate a liaison officer to coordinate directly with Philippine authorities, including the NBI.
The gaming platform also expressed willingness to localize its safety systems to improve detection of keywords, phrases, and other content that could pose risks to Filipino children. The DICT and NBI, meanwhile, will strengthen coordination in tracking harmful activities that move between online platforms.
The government and Roblox are also considering an industry roundtable to discuss additional measures and practices for protecting children online.
“These are concrete commitments. Now, the focus is on implementation,” Aguda said.
Roblox told government officials that it currently employs around 300 Filipinos and is looking at expanding its workforce in the country.
The DICT said its discussions with Roblox are part of a wider effort to engage individual digital platforms over child online safety.
“We are taking a platform-by-platform approach. Roblox is one step. We are also looking at other platforms where children and young people spend their time online,” Aguda said.
The agency said Discord is expected to be the next platform it will engage as part of the initiative.
The government cited concerns over online grooming, harmful content, and private online communities that could be used to exploit minors.
The DICT also urged parents to use existing platform safety features, including restrictions on direct messages and friend requests, content filters, parental monitoring tools, and server-level controls.
“Technology can help us detect risks faster and respond better. But no platform, government agency, school, or parent can do this alone. Protecting children online requires everyone working together,” Aguda said.
