I’d like to give users a field on their in-game “profile page” to shout out their Twitter/YouTube/Twitch. Roblox Community Rules mentions only users over 13+ are allowed to link these websites. I would use this to determine if they are over 13+ but it’s for core scripts only. Player:GetUnder13
Next potential solution: I can prompt an agreement that asks if they are 13+ before allowing them to put anything in the socials field.
What do you think? Technically they are supposed to be 13+ to have a Twitch/Twitter anyway (idk about youtube rules). Roblox has it’s own fields to fill out on the website profile page. My only gripe is the potential of lying about age, but they could also lie while making a Roblox account. Maybe you can think of a better solution? Or should I just avoid this sticky situation entirely?
Thanks for your input!
side question: anyone know if the profile social links are not visible to players under 13? It sounds like they are allowed to see them, just not post their own.
Here’s the snippet I’m referencing from the Roblox Community Rules:
Offsite website links, services, and additional 3rd party content are not permitted on Roblox with the following exceptions: YouTube, Twitter, Twitch. Users under the age of 13 are not permitted to share YouTube, Twitter, Twitch links for their privacy and safety.
You can determine if user is under 13 by using FilterStringAsync with a number. (Like TextService:FilterStringAsync("123", userId)) Then you can check if the number is filtered then the user is under 13
This trick isn’t 100% accurate but this is still 99% accurate most of the time.
I would include a code sample here but I’m on my phone right now so I can’t
I would strongly advise against doing this. The filter is not fixed but rather depends on context, and dynamically changes filtering based on age.
To answer @callmehbob’s question: Roblox is opposed to any reference to offsite social medias outside their own ‘Social Links’ feature, even for 13+ users! It should also be noted that phrases which reference off-site social medias (like ‘twitter’) are blocked for all users.
Thank you for your response!
Do you know where it says they are opposed to any reference outside of the social media links they have on the profile? I was not aware of this, as the word Twitter isn’t blocked for me in-game and not blocked on badges, even a youtube link like this one wasn’t blocked. You met the YouTuber iamSanna! - Roblox I’ve also seen games post their @'s inside of their game in GUIs and never seen something in the rules that says it’s wrong. in part of roblox’s translation programs they mention removing mentions of social media in-game for stricter countries (implying its okay for the current version)
Just want to make sure I have all the correct information since I take this very seriously and did not see that in the Roblox Community Rules. Maybe in the ToS?
There appears to be some confusion and I would like to correct that.
Firstly, no. Unders 13s cannot see social links. 13+ users can say “Twitter”, “YouTube”, “Twitch”, using the filter. “Discord”, no. See this help page and Section 1, rule 13, bullet point 6 of the Community Rules, this DevForum annoucement/reminder and the images below.
This is quite a good idea but would be risky, it could be seen as asking for PII (Personally Identifiable Information) which violates the Community Rules (See section 2, rule 1, bullet point 5 of the community rules). You may find it better to shoutout a phase like “Follow {username} on Social media”, or just simply “Follow {username} on Roblox”. If they’re over 13, they can see their social media there.
Depending on how the filter is for under 13s. you may be able to go a bit more direct and let the filter handle it
I’d advise against doing this in general. It could get your game removed for bypassing filter (since you’ll also have to do something about the filter).
I think you have the wrong idea as to what @SiberianCatKitten’s code actually does. The code he provided does not at all search for User IDs with “123” in it. He’s filtering the text “123” for a certain user ID and checking if it turns into a hashed text/filtered text. This would theoretically mean the player is below 13 years old. (Since numbers are filtered for users below 13 in most cases)
Well no, the rule is not to ask or collect. Ignoring that to do anything with this data, you need to store it in some form, either volatile or persistent storage; it’s not allowed. You can have a Roblox phishing GUI but it doesn’t store any data.
Asking a user for their age, whether it’s the exact number or a certain age group, is not allowed. Age has dealings in PII and developers are not allowed to work with PII. There is a reason, after all, why the age function is not exposed to developers.
I personally would avoid doing something like this. A feature like this in general (socials via Roblox) in itself is dodgy with moderation so it’s best to get an official response from support about if such a thing is permitted. Links to your own socials, as the developer, provided they are allowed on the site, are fine to include. Don’t know about extending that to all other players.
As for socials, yes, users under 13 cannot see socials.
