Roblox says it’s finally doing something serious about child predators on its platform. Good. Because it’s been a problem for years and parents have been screaming about it.
Today the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, announced that Roblox will roll out a bunch of new safety measures by the end of the year for Australian users. No more strangers sliding into your kid’s DMs as chat will be turned off by default unless Roblox knows how old you are. Adults won’t be able to message kids under 16 at all. They’re even adding tech to guess a player’s age better, plus extra filters and protections for younger players.
Sounds good on paper. But here’s the thing: Roblox has been under fire for a long time. Cops have been warning parents since 2023 that predators use the platform, and people have found some really nasty stuff there such as games simulating extremist violence, even propaganda. If you’ve ever walked past a kid playing Roblox on an iPad and wondered who they’re talking to, this news might make you breathe a little easier.
Still, I can’t help but think: why did it take this long? This platform has over 70 million daily players, many of them are kids. Of course predators are going to go where the kids are.
And even with these new measures, it’s not a magic fix. Predators are persistent. Tech filters can be bypassed. Parents will still have to pay attention. But at least the pressure is on. If Roblox doesn’t deliver, they could face nearly A$50 million in fines. That’s not pocket change, even for a company this big.
Australia has been cracking down on this stuff hard lately. For example, banning social media for under-16s, taking on “lawful but awful” content. Some people think it’s too much government control. Others think it’s about time someone stepped in.