Australia’s internet safety regulator has reached a court-enforceable child safety agreement with Roblox after finding gaps in the platform’s protections for young users.
The eSafety Commissioner said Roblox must introduce stronger safeguards following tests that raised concerns about adult-to-child contact, grooming and potential sexual exploitation.
Under the agreement, Roblox will prevent adults from contacting unknown children without parental consent and make children’s accounts private by default. The company must also strengthen its complaint and reporting systems and notify users about the outcomes of reports.
The regulator’s testing earlier this year found that adults could send connection requests to young Australian users without parental approval. It also found that children and adults could interact through forums outside games, while information including profiles, connections, usernames and interests could be visible to other users.
Roblox has agreed to implement the required changes within three months. The company will also appoint an independent third-party auditor to assess its safety measures, including its age-estimation technology.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said independent oversight was important to ensure Roblox’s child-safety systems were effective and not simply assessed by the company itself.
Roblox said it had met safety commitments made to Australia’s eSafety regulator over the past year and would continue working with authorities to improve protections for children on its platform.
The regulator warned that failing to comply with the agreement could lead to further legal action in Australia’s Federal Court.
The agreement comes as Australia continues to increase pressure on major online platforms to strengthen protections for children and prevent harmful interactions between adults and young users.