It is, in some sense, the elephant in the virtual living room, and definitely not as subject to interrogation as online pornography or social media: video games – which, according to the Entertainment Software Association, nearly 80 percent of all children between 5 and 18 play in some fashion.
The World Economic Forum has published a paper on how to make the gaming environment safer for kids. “In today’s digitalized childhood, gaming is a parallel playground, classroom and social hub,” it says. “Children’s screen time has surged, often unsupervised. Platforms that were once the confines of adults are flooded with children and teen users. Harms like grooming, bullying, exploitation and algorithmic manipulation are no longer theoretical; they unfold in real-time, often out of sight and without warning.”
As far as solving the problem, WEF names two age “interventions” that “stand out for their technical sophistication and for what they represent, a broader shift towards proactive, inclusive and context-aware solutions.” Significantly, neither are technically age verification products. These are Microsoft’s Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit, and k-ID’s platform, which “enables any game to implement age-appropriate experiences.”
The Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit, says WEF, enables parents to be “confident co-pilots in their child’s online life” by providing age-specific guidance, real-life scenarios and culturally-localized advice. It was developed with educators, civil society organizations and policymakers in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and WEF applauds how it does not moralize or lecture to parents who may be unfamiliar with gaming.
“Perhaps most critically, the Xbox Toolkit understands that tools only work when they are known, understood and trusted. That is why it was rolled out not just through online channels, but through local partnerships, meeting families where they are, not just where the product lives.”
Meanwhile, k-ID “tackles the problem at its root.” The platform “transforms how a game recognizes its audiences by implementing privacy-preserving, age-assurance techniques. From there, k-ID’s platform adapts the game’s user experience, from available features to content moderation, based on age, geography, permissions, consents and local legal requirements.”
“This is what digital safety by design looks like. It helps challenge the norm that innovation comes first and safety comes later.”
WEF notes the affordability of k-ID’s services, “enabling even small or medium-sized gaming companies to comply with global child safety laws without massive engineering overhauls.” This evens out a playing field that also includes megaliths like Google.
What these two firms and their approaches suggest is that “trust must be built proactively, collaboratively and contextually.” Engagement is crucial, and compliance is an ongoing dance.
The underlying philosophy “does not merely catalogue best practices. It maps interventions against the intervention journey from identification, design, implementation and feedback, measurement and transparency.”
While pornographers and social media tycoons are likely to continue grabbing headlines in the near future, a reckoning is coming for the gaming world. “The question of gaming safety is no longer niche,” says WEF. “It is fundamental to the broader digital safety movement.”
The paper concludes with four broad recommendations: be proactive by embedding safety at the design stage, ensure regulations are clear about what compliance means, make digital literacy a core part of education for youth and parents, and – least feasibly, perhaps – make companies “recognize children not as users, but as citizens, with agency, dignity and a right to protection. That means co-creating tools with youth themselves, listening to their needs and building products that reflect their lived realities.”
10 things to know about the OSA (some of which you already know)
On the topic of regulatory clarity, Playsafe ID has published a “super-condensed guide for games in relation to the Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s regulatory framework.”
The post lists “10 things you need to know.” These range from the fundamental (what is the Online Safety Act) to the obvious (this affects games) to helpful lists of key dates, summaries of prohibited content, and taxonomic distinctions (“almost all games will be considered a PCU B5”). Crucially, you must know about “highly effective age assurance,” and know how to use it.
Article Topics
age verification | biometric age estimation | children | gaming | k-ID | Microsoft | Online Safety Act | PlaySafe ID | regulation | World Economic Forum
