Online gaming platform Roblox has given a court-enforceable undertaking to Australia’s online safety regulator to do more “to protect children from grooming, sexual exploitation and abuse”.
The agreement comes after the eSafety Commissioner discovered that adults were still able to see child accounts on Roblox and send connection requests. This followed almost two years of back-and-forth between the eSafety Commissioner and the game company over whether Roblox complies with industry standards for child safety.
Roblox has committed to implement robust measures, including:
- preventing adults from contacting unknown children without parental consent
- strengthening children’s account settings to be private by default
- providing accessible reporting tools to notify users of complaint outcomes
- engaging an independent auditor to assess its safety measures, including age-assurance checks.
How did we get here?
While Roblox (like other gaming platforms) is exempt from Australia’s social media age restrictions, it must still comply with the Online Safety Act. In late 2025, the company committed to making several changes to enhance child safety, including age-assurance checks for all users to access chat features.
However, by February 2026, the company was put on notice by eSafety over concerns about child grooming. Additional design changes followed, with Roblox creating new “kids accounts” and enhancing parental controls.
Today’s announcement by eSafety marks the second notice of concern in only a six-month period.
Why is it so hard to make Roblox safe for kids?
In April, I wrote about the steps Roblox was taking to significantly alter its design for children under 16.
The new design included two new age-based account types, for children aged 5-8 and 9-15. The accounts included new features, including having the chat function set to “off” by default in Australia. There were also controls for parents to manage chat and block access to specific games for children under 13.
Of course, these features rely on parental involvement, including decisions on the age at which the chat feature should be turned on. Yet eSafety’s announcement shows parents also need to be aware of potential risks in general discussion forums (outside of in-game chats), and in how adult users can view children’s profiles.
Roblox’s safety features also rely on successful age checks, which have proven difficult to implement under Australia’s social media age restrictions. An eSafety report released in July found more than 50% of children said social media platforms had not asked them to confirm their age, and 18% said platforms incorrectly estimated their age as 16 or older.
Why is change so slow?
A key challenge in pursuing compliance with safety legislation is the significant amount of time needed to resolve concerns. In Roblox’s case, the company was put on notice about safety concerns in February, with new features announced in April for release in May or June.
Now, in August, eSafety has issued a second notice, giving Roblox three months to comply. It may be 2027 before we know whether these next steps meet eSafety’s expectations.
This echoes the long timelines for assessing compliance with Australia’s social media age restrictions. While the legislation passed in December 2024, it only came into effect 12 months later, in December 2025.
Initial concerns were raised in March 2026, while eSafety released a three-month assessment showing only “limited” success of the ban in late July.
While the potential penalties for non-compliance have been increased, it remains unclear whether — or when — technology companies will be fined.
However, findings of non-compliance and issuing of fines may not be the end of the story. Technology companies may challenge the findings in the courts.
Reddit launched a legal challenge to the social media legislation itself. And Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) is facing a U.S. court this week over concerns it breached federal and state privacy laws for children.
Is the eSafety Commission doing its job?
The eSafety Commissioner provides a critical service in implementing the Online Safety Act in Australia.
By being proactive in identifying gaps in platforms’ compliance and in pursuing enforceable next steps, the commission plays a vital role in managing online safety.
The commission also publishes helpful information guides and provides other advice to help parents and caregivers keep kids safe.
What do parents need to know?
The Roblox saga is a reminder that parents can’t leave children’s online safety to platforms. If your children are playing video games — especially online ones — you need to examine their content to assess whether it is age-appropriate.
And parents must also familiarise themselves with the details of how platforms work, including parental controls.
One place to look for resources is your local public library. The City of Melbourne Library, for example, has a guide with links to resources for children and parents of various ages, including for online gaming.
A key message for parents is that they must remain vigilant in monitoring their children’s use of games and other online platforms. Many games have features that enable players to engage in forums and chats, which can open the door to predators.
Where platforms attract a significant number of children — such as Roblox — predators will look for ways to find and engage with children. Parents should monitor chat engagement and ensure children are not being asked to engage via other channels such as email or messaging.
Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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