The popular online game platform Roblox is strengthening its age verification system for users who want to privately message other players. Roblox is also implementing age-based chats so kids, teens and adults will only be able to message people around their own age. This change comes as Roblox continues to face criticism and lawsuits over child safety, and a growing number of countries are implementing age verification laws. The company had previously announced the age estimation tool, which is provided by a company called Persona, in July. It requires players to take a video selfie that will be used to estimate their age. Roblox says the videos are deleted after the age check is processed. Users are not required to submit a face scan to use the platform — only if they want to chat with other users. Roblox doesn't allow kids under 13 to chat with other users outside of games unless they have explicit parental permission — and unlike other platforms, it does not encrypt private chat conversations, so it can monitor and moderate them. While some experts have expressed caution about the reliability of facial age estimation tools, Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer at Roblox, said that between the ages of about five to 25, the system can accurately estimate a person's age within one or two years. He said that people can also submit identification or parental consent if the age estimate is incorrect. After users go through the age checks, they will be assigned to age groups ranging from under nine, nine to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20 and over 21. Users will then be able to chat with their age group or similar age groups, depending on their age and the type of chat. Roblox said it will start enforcing age checks in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in the first week of December and the rest of the world in early January.