Roblox must make changes after failing to block adults creeping on kids
Australia's eSafety Commissioner has found that Roblox is still failing to prevent adults from contacting and grooming children on its platform, despite safety changes introduced last autumn. Following its own testing, the regulator concluded the gaming platform, used by 1.7 million Australian children, breaches obligations under the Online Safety Act to block unwanted adult-child contact and set children's accounts to private by default. Roblox has now entered a court-enforceable agreement to fix the gaps within three months, though the company maintains it believes it is already meeting its legal obligations.
eSafety's testing found adult strangers could still send connection requests to children without triggering parental alerts, while children's profiles, contact lists and biographical details remained visible to anyone, with no way to restrict access. Adults could also search for and comment on children's posts in forums outside game environments without carer consent. Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Roblox can no longer "mark their own homework" and must submit to independent third-party auditing of its child-safety tools going forward. Roblox has pointed to recent measures such as facial age verification and new "Kids" and "Select" accounts for under-16s as evidence of its commitment to safety.
- Australian regulator says Roblox safety flaws still expose children to adult strangers
- Roblox must fix gaps within three months under a court-enforceable agreement
- Roblox will face independent third-party audits of its child-safety tools
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Roblox is an online platform where people play games made by other users and communicate with one another. Many children use it, so features such as friend requests, profiles and forums can bring young users into contact with adults they do not know.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is the regulator responsible for enforcing the country’s online safety rules. The Online Safety Act places obligations on platforms to limit unwanted adult contact with children and protect children’s accounts and information.
The dispute concerns whether Roblox’s safety settings meet those obligations, and how their effectiveness should be checked. It matters because children’s privacy and ability to avoid contact with strangers depend partly on how the platform designs and monitors these features.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
When independent testing documents that a platform used by 1.7 million children fails to prevent adult contact and exposes children's personal information publicly, regulatory enforcement is essential. Roblox's claim that it meets legal obligations despite these documented findings demonstrates that self-assessment cannot be trusted for child safety. Court-enforceable agreements with mandatory third-party auditing are necessary accountability measures to ensure genuine protection.
The case against
While child safety is paramount, companies implementing complex global systems deserve reasonable time and flexibility to deploy safety improvements properly. Roblox is demonstrating genuine commitment through facial age verification and new account protections for younger users. Regulatory approaches emphasising partnership and reasonable timelines may ultimately prove more effective for child protection than heavy-handed enforcement, which risks discouraging industry-wide cooperation on safety innovation.