Overview
- Regulatory tests found adults could send connection requests to young Australian children without parental consent, read and reply to posts in forums outside games, and see children’s profiles, connections, avatars and stated interests.
- Under the undertaking Roblox must stop adults contacting unknown children without parental consent, set under‑16 accounts to private by default, fix in‑app reporting so it works on mobile and notifies complainants of outcomes, and restrict forum posting for unverified users.
- The deal requires Roblox to hire an independent Compliance Auditor at its own expense with the first audit due three months after appointment and annual audits for a three‑year term to examine compliance and age‑assurance systems including facial age estimation.
- Roblox signed the undertaking on August 17 and eSafety accepted it on August 19, at which point the commitments took effect and the regulator gained the power to seek Federal Court orders and other remedies if Roblox breaches the terms.
- About 1.7 million Australian children use Roblox, so the changes aim to reduce real risks to kids while raising broader questions about biometric age checks, parental consent models and growing international legal scrutiny of the platform.