Roblox chat in the UAE: When will the feature return?

Dubai: For many children in the UAE, Roblox is less a game and more a social universe, a place where school-aged users build worlds, swap stories and spend hours immersed in user-generated experiences. Its appeal has long been its accessibility - anyone, even without gaming expertise, can create or join a virtual world and interact with millions of others.

Yet as the platform has grown, so too have concerns. Roblox’s rapid rise, accelerated by the pandemic has been shadowed by allegations of weak content moderation, inappropriate experiences and unfiltered communication between adults and minors. Several governments have since acted - Qatar has blocked the platform, and Saudi Arabia forced Roblox to remove more than 300,000 games this year.

Now, Roblox says it is rebuilding trust in the region and preparing to bring back the in-experience chat feature that was temporarily switched off in September following discussions with the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).

Speaking to Gulf News, Roblox’s Vice President, Global Head of Public Policy - Nicky Jackson Colaco said the company is developing “tailored solutions” for GCC countries, including stronger Arabic-language moderation, new safety tools, and upgraded age-verification technology.

Chat will return but only after new safeguards are in place

Now Roblox says chat will return but only under a newly rebuilt safety framework and with the confidence of regulators. 

“We have been talking to many of the governments in the GCC about how we provide tailored experiences… We turned off chat in many of the GCC countries and that was something that we worked on with the government so that we could improve moderation,” Colaco said.

Roblox emphasised that chat will only return once regulators are assured that children will not be exposed to harmful conversations or inappropriate content.

“Our goal is to have chat back on in the region as soon as possible, but we will do that in consultation with governments… We want to provide the best possible Arabic chat experience,” Colaco said. “When we’re ready, we’ll do that but it has to be a partnership with government.”

The company is now exploring partnerships with Arabic moderation firms and strengthening its filtering systems, which already prevent users from sharing personal information.

Roblox’s long-term future in the region, Colaco said, depends on deeper collaboration with governments and a platform experience that reflects local culture, language and customs - especially across chat and moderation.

“We are not just a company based in the US running everything from there. We want to be active in the region where Roblox is popular, listen to stakeholders and families, understand the local culture and language, and make sure all of that is baked into what we offer,” she said.

A region echoing with concern but no UAE plans to block the platform

The UAE is taking a different route - rather than banning the platform, authorities are working with Roblox to improve safety, enhance Arabic content and build new protections for young players. Colaco confirmed there are no plans to block Roblox in the UAE.

“Roblox is not going anywhere. It was never banned in the UAE,” Colaco said, adding that both the company and the TDRA share the same goal, stronger protections for children.

Whether that model succeeds will depend on how convincingly the company delivers on its promises. But for now, in the UAE at least, the message is clear - reform, not removal.

Facial age-estimation to stop adults entering children’s worlds

A key issue raised by parents and safety researchers is adults posing as children and interacting with minors inside virtual worlds. A Revealing Reality investigation earlier this year found that adults could still easily join experiences where children are present, despite age-based controls.

Roblox says it is introducing a major update to address this: facial age-estimation technology.

“It takes a video selfie and is able to capture the age that they are, and then put them in experiences that are appropriate for them,” Colaco explained.

“If we can ascertain that you are eight or 12 years old, we can then say there should never be a situation in which this child is speaking to a 40-year-old. We can keep them in more of a walled garden, which we think is fundamentally safer.”

The feature will be rolled out before the end of the year, she confirmed.

Roblox launched more than 145 safety tools in the past year alone, but Colaco said age-estimation is one of the most significant because it “promotes safer communication between people of a similar age.”

The platform’s roots and why chat matters

Roblox began as an educational platform designed to teach physics through simulations. It evolved into a vast user-generated universe where children can build games, learn coding, explore museums, and collaborate on creative projects.

“You can learn new skills, visit a museum, or learn how to run a business… It was designed as an environment for even the youngest children to learn science, technology, engineering and math skills,” Colaco said.

But communication through text chat, voice chat, or messaging, remains central to how young users play. Roblox acknowledges this, saying it must balance engagement with safety.

“Our chat is extremely filtered… all of that social-media-style functionality is just not part of what Roblox is,” she added.

Parents are given more control but Roblox says the burden shouldn’t fall on them alone

With children spending an extraordinary 73.5 billion hours on Roblox in 2024 alone, screen-time addiction has become a major concern for families worldwide.

Roblox has introduced major updates to its parental controls this year, giving parents greater visibility over their child’s activity and the ability to manage settings remotely.

“We updated our parental controls to give parents more control than ever before… It should be very difficult for a child to override that,” Colaco said.

However, she stressed that Roblox cannot rely on parents alone:

“There are parents who love their kids but don’t have as much time or are not as comfortable with technology. We feel it is our responsibility, as a default, to make sure the platform is safe even if a parent never sets up any parental controls at all.”

Parents can set screen-time limits, adjust downtime settings and control access to mature content. Experiences rated 17+ require government-issued ID verification.

Roblox CEO David Baszucki previously told the BBC this year that parents should feel free to restrict or ban the platform entirely if they have concerns, a message Colaco echoed.

“If they decide that spending time on Roblox is healthy, fun, creative, and a good learning experience, that’s great. And if they feel their children aren’t ready for Roblox, or need less time on it, we want them to feel confident making that choice as well. It’s a difficult position for any parent, you never want to feel like you’re denying your child something but ultimately we all prioritise our children’s needs. We want parents to know we fully support that.”

Lawsuits and global pressure

Roblox, which averages more daily users than Nintendo Switch and PlayStation combined, has faced growing legal pressure in its home market. In the US, it is currently facing lawsuits including one from the state of Texas accusing the company of “flagrantly ignoring” child-safety laws and misleading parents.

Colaco acknowledged these challenges but said Roblox is leaning into collaboration with regulators globally including in the GCC  to address risks and build safer environments.

Inside the GCC: A region Roblox views as unusually tech-literate

Colaco described the GCC as one of Roblox’s most engaged policy regions, citing what she called an unusually high level of digital literacy among regulators.

“We can have rich conversations with policymakers in this region because their knowledge of technology is extensive,” she said. “They also recognise the potential of these technologies for teaching and learning, for economic development, to fuel the economy.”

For now, Roblox’s virtual worlds in the UAE remain quiet. The company says chat will return under new protections but its ability to deliver a safer experience will ultimately be judged by parents and regulators.