Forum Discussion

tadpole5's avatar
tadpole5
Newbie
9 months ago
Solved

Parental control PIN settings do NOT block unrated!!

I'm incredibly frustrated with ROKUs terrible parental controls!  I intentionally set a PIN as required for all content on the ROKU Channel above PG (as i find much of the stuff rated 14+ to be inappropriate for my young teens to watch unsupervised)... but ive tested it out by searching mature-themed search terms and the ROKU channel still allows them to find AND WATCH "un rated" content WITHOUT the PIN being required!  This is absolutely unacceptable!  

I wanted to post this here in case other parents are not aware of this loophole in the parental controls.  

TV & Player Setup
  • RokuJohnB's avatar
    RokuJohnB
    9 months ago

    Hi tadpole5 stophate0,

    Thanks for reaching out about the parental controls — happy to help.

    Roku Channel parental controls are PIN-based and only work when you're signed in to The Roku Channel. Once set up, a PIN is required to watch content with certain ratings, based on the level you choose.

    These ratings follow standard systems like the MPAA for movies and TV Parental Guidelines in the U.S. (You can check out more details here: Movie Ratings | TV Ratings). Other countries have similar systems, too.

    Hope that clears things up! Let us know if you have more questions.

    Thanks,
    Roku Community Team

2 Replies

  • stophate0's avatar
    stophate0
    Newbie
    9 months ago

    I noticed this as well, but it doesn't seem to be all unrated content. When I'm on the home screen and choose the "Live TV" option, then pick a new channel, it's blocked because it doesn't have a rating. In fact, all new channels I've tried are blocked because they are unrated.

    Some that I've tested:
    NFL Channel: TV-G
    Eyewitness News 3: TV-G
    The Weather Channel en Espanol: TV-PG (really?)
    iHeart Radio Classic Rock: TV-G
    The Bob Ross Channel: TV-G
    Live Now Fox: Unrated
    ABC News Live First: Unrated
    NBC News Now: Unrated
    Dateline 24|7: TV-14
    ion: TV-14
    CBS News 24/7: Unrated

    • RokuJohnB's avatar
      RokuJohnB
      Community Moderator
      9 months ago

      Hi tadpole5 stophate0,

      Thanks for reaching out about the parental controls — happy to help.

      Roku Channel parental controls are PIN-based and only work when you're signed in to The Roku Channel. Once set up, a PIN is required to watch content with certain ratings, based on the level you choose.

      These ratings follow standard systems like the MPAA for movies and TV Parental Guidelines in the U.S. (You can check out more details here: Movie Ratings | TV Ratings). Other countries have similar systems, too.

      Hope that clears things up! Let us know if you have more questions.

      Thanks,
      Roku Community Team