Australia Identifies Significant Child Safety Gaps on Gaming Platforms Like Steam and Roblox

Australia's eSafety Commission, the national online safety regulator, has reported "significant gaps" in the child protection measures implemented by leading gaming platforms including Steam, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft. The Commission highlighted inconsistent approaches to child safety across these platforms, noting that 90% of Australian children aged 8 to 17 engage in online gaming. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant urged these platforms to "lift their game" in combating serious harms like child sexual exploitation, sexual extortion, and violent extremist content.

Highlights

• Steam was singled out as the only provider not using industry-standard technology to detect and remove known harmful content.
• Roblox and Steam rely solely on internal datasets for training their language detection systems and do not regularly retrain these models.
• Minecraft and Fortnite generally allow users to self-declare their age, potentially granting access to "higher-risk communication features" for those claiming to be adults.
• Inconsistencies were observed in how the platforms share information and participate in industry initiatives.

Details

The report indicates that Valve, the US gaming giant behind Steam and Steam Chat, was the sole provider that did not employ a type of technology widely used in the industry to detect and remove known harmful content. Furthermore, Valve reportedly does not "proactively" use tools to identify child sexual exploitation or violent material in chats, with current systems primarily flagging scams. Both Roblox and Valve were noted for using only internal datasets to train their language detection systems and for not regularly retraining these models.

Platforms like Minecraft and Fortnite largely depend on users self-declaring their age, which means individuals who claim to be adults can access features with higher communication risks. However, the report acknowledged that Steam recently introduced age checks using credit cards, and Roblox implemented stronger age verification measures last December. "We expect these services to lift their game to identify and combat serious harms such as child sexual exploitation, sexual extortion and material and activity which promotes, incites or instructs violence," stated eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

Why it matters

This report underscores the ongoing challenges and responsibilities of online gaming platforms regarding child safety. Given Australia's proactive stance on online safety, these findings could set a precedent for other regulators and platforms globally. Ensuring children's safety in online environments remains a critical priority for both parents and technology companies.