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The Australian Government’s eSafety office has formally asked Roblox, Microsoft, Epic, and Valve to specifically outline how their systems are preventing child grooming and the spread of extremism. The eSafety office is an independent agency that was initially established in 2015 to combat youth cyberbullying and the online distribution of child sexual abuse material, but its role has since expanded to cover protections for all Australians from a spectrum of online risks.
As per eSafety’s announcement, legally enforceable transparency notices have been issued to the aforementioned companies in the wake of its continuing concerns about platforms like Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Steam itself “being used by sexual predators to groom children and by extremist groups to spread violent propaganda and radicalise young people.”
“What we often see after these offenders make contact with children in online game environments, they then move children to private messaging services,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant in a published statement. “Gaming platforms are amongst the online spaces most heavily used by Australian children, functioning not only as places to play, but also as places to socialise and communicate. Our own research into children and gaming showed around 9 in 10 children aged 8 to 17
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