Roblox CEO says the platform is an "amazing platform right now for your kid" during tense child safety interview

Roblox CEO David Baszucki has said that the popular gaming platform is still an amazing place for younger players amid growing concerns over its child safety features, labelling its issue with predators an “opportunity.”

The details:

• In an interview with the New York Times’ Hard Fork podcast, Baszucki was asked about the alarming number of cases involving child predators on Roblox. The executive’s response to the question was quite bizarre, saying, "We think of it not necessarily just as a problem, but an opportunity as well. How do we allow young people to build, communicate, and hang out together? How do we build the future of communication at the same time?"
• The CEO and hosts went on to discuss Roblox’s new age verification system, which includes scanning the user’s face in order to access certain experiences and features such as messages, and how confident the company was in the method. "I don't want to comment on it," Baszucki said. "It's one of the primary things we're doing is trying to keep people on our platform. It's an interesting industry situation. I would say we're not waiting for the rest of the industry. We're like, we're always trying to stay ahead of it."
• Baszucki continued to avoid answering questions directly, with the interview getting tense after the CEO was asked about a Hindenburg Research report published last year, which claimed that the company was failing to protect children, instead catering to investors. "Fun," he said. "Let's keep going down this. And so, first off, Hindenburg is no longer in existence, correct? So, you should report on that. They went out of business for some reason. The other thing is, have you researched that information? Because you're asking me about this, I'm curious if you've done your own research."
• The interview concluded with Baszucki stressing that parents are the “ultimate arbiters of responsibility" and that “Roblox is an amazing platform right now for your kid,” despite the reported safety issues.