Gaming platform Roblox to be tested on child safety as concerns grow

A popular online gaming platform is coming under eSafety scrutiny as government concerns grow over child grooming and exploitation.

The website Roblox made multiple commitments last September to support online safety, particularly for children.

These included making accounts private by default for users under 16, preventing adults from contacting under-16s without parental consent, switching off key chat features for under-16s and blocking them from direct communication with adults.

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Now, eSafety has said it plans to test those safety measures to ensure they are up to the job of keeping children safe online.

"We remain highly concerned by ongoing reports regarding the exploitation of children on the Roblox service, and exposure to harmful material," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

"That's why eSafety wrote to Roblox last week to notify them that, in addition to our ongoing compliance monitoring, we will also be directly testing the implementation of its commitments so that we have first-hand insights into this compliance."

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Roblox is not currently considered an age-restricted platform under the federal social media ban for under-16s.

"I welcome the Minister for Communications' correspondence and the Australian Government's support on this important issue, as we use all of the tools available to us to keep Australian kids safe online," Inman Grant said.

If Roblox is found to be non-compliant with its commitments, eSafety has said it may take further action - including potentially seeking penalties of up to $49.5 million.

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New codes focused on age-restricted material such as online pornography, high-impact violence, and self-harm come into force on March 9, and these will apply to Roblox among other platforms.

These also contain requirements for online gaming services such as Roblox to prohibit and take proportionate action against non-consensual sharing of intimate images, the grooming of children, and sexual extortion.

In a statement, a Roblox spokesperson defended the platform's child protection measures.

"Roblox has robust safety policies and processes to help protect users that go beyond many other platforms, and advanced safeguards that monitor for harmful content and communications," the spokesperson said.

"We have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information, our chat features don't allow user-to-user image or video sharing, and we recently rolled out age checks globally to limit kids and teens to only chatting with others of similar age by default.

"We also work closely with Australian law enforcement to support their investigations. While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to strengthen protections to help keep users safe."

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)