{"id":267578,"date":"2025-11-06T23:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/267578\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T23:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:33:09","slug":"roblox-shocks-online-gaming-platform-should-be-snared-by-australias-social-media-ban-for-under-16s-experts-and-mps-say-roblox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/267578\/","title":{"rendered":"Roblox shocks: online gaming platform should be snared by Australia\u2019s social media ban for under-16s, experts and MPs say | Roblox"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are growing calls for the federal government to address the risks posed to children on the popular gaming platform Roblox after Guardian Australia published a report<\/a> that documented a week of virtual sexual harassment and violence.<\/p>\n

While playing as an eight-year-old girl, the reporter was given a sexualised avatar, cyberbullied, aggressively killed, sexually assaulted and shat on \u2013 all with parental control settings in place.<\/p>\n

While platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Kick will soon be included under Australia\u2019s social media ban, which will prevent Australians under 16 from having social media accounts from 10 December, Roblox<\/a> is not.<\/p>\n

The independent MP Monique Ryan said this was \u201cinexplicable\u201d. \u201cOnline gaming platforms like Roblox offer children unmoderated exposure to gambling, cloned social media apps and explicit content,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At a press conference on Wednesday, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said platforms were assessed by their \u201csole and significant purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids who are using Roblox today, they use the chat functionality and messaging so that they can online gameplay,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the online gameplay \u2026 were taken away, would the kids still use that messaging functionality to chat? Probably not.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf they start rolling out features that look more like they\u2019re becoming a social media company than an online gaming company, then we will seek to capture them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The regime rules<\/a> created by the government stipulate that services that have the primary purpose of enabling users to play online games with others are not age\u2011restricted social media platforms.<\/p>\n

But some critics suggested this is too limited for platforms that merge gameplay and social interaction. Niusha Shafiabady, an associate professor of information technology at Australian Catholic University, believes Roblox should be included in the ban.<\/p>\n

She pointed to the way the platform allows players to create content and interact. \u201cIt\u2019s exactly like a contained social media platform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The independent MP Nicolette Boele urged the government to reconsider. \u201cIf the government\u2019s plan bans some apps but leaves platforms like Roblox \u2013 described as a \u2018paedophile hellscape\u2019 \u2013 untouched, then we\u2019re not protecting kids, we\u2019re driving them into more dangerous, less regulated spaces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the communications minister, Anika Wells, said the decision not to include Roblox under the teen social media ban did not mean it was exempt from its responsibilities under the Online Safety Act.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for eSafety said it \u201chas been able to extract important safety commitments from Roblox that will protect children from a range of harms including online grooming and sexual coercion\u201d.<\/p>\n

By the end of the year, eSafety said Roblox will be rolling out<\/a> age-assurance technologies, not allowing adults to contact children without specific parental consent and making accounts private by default for those under 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a child aged under 16 has gone through age estimation and has chat enabled, they will be unable to chat with adults,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cParental controls will also be introduced to allow parents to disable chat for 13- to 15-year-old users, on top of existing protections for under 13s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency has enforcement powers if companies such as Roblox do not comply with codes and standards for child safety, including penalties of up to $49.5m.<\/p>\n

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eSafety said it \u201cwill closely monitor the implementation of these commitments from Roblox and will consider regulatory action in cases of future non-compliance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Joanna Orlando, a digital wellbeing expert at Western Sydney University, said the two key safety concerns with Roblox were the risk of grooming and the growing monetisation of children playing \u201cthe biggest game in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said it was misleading to consider it as purely a video game. \u201cIt\u2019s so much more \u2013 there are lots of social layers, there are a lot of people \u2013 there is everyone and anyone on that platform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Greens communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the government was \u201ctrying to play whack-a-mole\u201d with the social media ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want big tech companies held to account to ensure that children, whatever age \u2026 are safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to hit these companies where it hurts, and that\u2019s their business model and the government is scared of doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shadow communications minister, Melissa McIntosh, also raised concerns about the platform. She said while Roblox had committed to stronger safeguards, \u201cwe as parents must still be vigilant to protect our children online\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe eSafety commissioner and the government have a responsibility to do everything they can to keep our kids safe from the growing threat of online predators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A Roblox spokesperson said the platform was \u201ccommitted to leading in safety through rigorous policies that go above and beyond what other platforms do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use AI to check for violative content before a game is published, we do not allow users to share images or videos in chat, and we use advanced text filters designed to stop kids from sharing personal information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are growing calls for the federal government to address the risks posed to children on the popular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-267578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}