Roblox Still Has a Child Safety Problem Despite New Protections

Australia’s online safety regulator says Roblox has not done enough to prevent children from being contacted by adults, raising fresh concerns about safety on one of the world’s most popular gaming platforms.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has found that Roblox still has significant gaps in its protections for children, despite the company introducing new safety measures and promising to strengthen privacy controls.

The regulator’s latest testing found that adults could still send connection requests to users under 16 without parental or guardian consent. It also found situations in which children and adults could interact through forums outside games.

The findings have renewed scrutiny of Roblox as governments around the world examine how online platforms protect young users from exploitation and inappropriate contact.

Adults Could Still Contact Children

One of the most serious concerns identified by Australia’s eSafety regulator involved communication between adults and children.

Testing showed that adults could send connection requests to children under 16 without receiving approval from a parent or carer. The regulator also found that children’s profiles and connections could remain visible to other people on the platform.

Information such as usernames, connection lists, avatar images and interests was reportedly accessible, creating additional concerns about how much information children could expose publicly.

The findings are particularly significant because Roblox is heavily used by children and young teenagers. Australian authorities estimate that about 1.7 million Australian children use the platform.

Roblox Has Already Introduced Safety Changes

Roblox has not ignored the criticism. The company has introduced several measures aimed at making the platform safer for younger users.

Among the changes are age-based account options, including Roblox Kids for younger children and Roblox Select for users aged 9 to 15. The company has also moved toward stronger privacy protections and restrictions on communication between adults and minors.

However, eSafety said its testing showed that earlier changes did not completely address the problems identified by the regulator.

That means Roblox now faces pressure to make its safeguards work consistently rather than simply adding additional safety features.

Roblox Makes New Legal Commitment

Following the regulator’s findings, Roblox agreed to make further changes under a formal, court-enforceable commitment.

The company has agreed to strengthen default privacy settings for children and introduce tighter controls preventing adults from contacting unknown children without parental permission.

Roblox will also improve its complaint-handling process and have aspects of its safety and age-estimation systems independently audited.

The company has been given three months to implement the required changes. Failure to meet the commitments could result in the matter being taken to Australia’s Federal Court.

Growing International Pressure on Roblox

Australia is not the only country examining Roblox over child safety.

The company is facing increasing regulatory and legal scrutiny in the United States, while European regulators have also placed the platform under greater oversight. On August 31, the European Commission designated Roblox as a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act, bringing additional obligations concerning systemic risks and user safety.

The growing pressure reflects broader concerns about how online platforms can prevent adults from exploiting communication tools designed for social interaction.

What Parents Should Know

The Australian findings serve as a reminder that parental controls and platform safety settings should not be treated as a complete guarantee of protection.

Parents can reduce risks by reviewing their children’s privacy settings, limiting who can communicate with them, monitoring friend and connection requests, and discussing why children should avoid sharing personal information online.

Roblox says it remains committed to improving child safety and has accepted the latest Australian requirements.

But for Australia’s online safety regulator, the central issue is whether those promises translate into effective protections in practice.

With millions of children using online gaming platforms, regulators are increasingly demanding stronger safeguards that prevent unwanted contact before harm occurs rather than relying solely on reporting systems after an incident.

For Roblox, the next three months will be important as it works to close the safety gaps identified by Australian authorities and demonstrate that its latest protections can keep children safer online.