Tech Talk
Dear parents and carers,
As you may have heard on news media over the last few weeks, the Australian eSafety Commission has placed the ROBLOX platform on notice if it fails to comply with the local Online Safety Act codes. Although Australia has a broad media ban for under 16’s, ROBLOX has largely avoided being censored as it is classified primarily as an online “gaming” platform, rather than a pure social network.
The government has however, managed to create:-
- Age-adaptive accounts for users under 16
- Mandatory age estimation where players must verify their age via an ID or facial recognition technology before they can access voice chats
- Adult contact restrictions prohibiting adults contacting minor users
So, what is ROBLOX? It is a massive 92 billion dollar online gaming platform and game creation system where users, 40 million current users can play games designed by others, build their own virtual world and socialise globally. It functions more like a digital universe filled with millions of users, many of whom may be your children!
ROBLOX is free to join and play and it features its own virtual currency called “ROBUX”. It can be purchased with real money and used to buy avatar customizations or special perks.
The purpose of this Tech Talk is simply to inform parents about the pros and cons of this platform and its actual suitability for children, particularly under 16 years of age. Of course it is your choice to allow your children to play these games and have their avatars, but it is important to be fully informed about some of the dangers as well.
- ONLINE PREDATORS AND GROOMING
Predators have been known to befriend children in casual game servers and build a false sense of trust
- INAPPROPRIATE AND DISTURBING CONTENT
As a vast majority of ROBLOX games are user generated. Traumatic content has surfaced in user created games, including real life world tragedies. (One such example of this is a user created a game based on the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hills Elementary School in Connecticut. Not only could users play the role of the shooters and listen the warnings of approaching police vehicles, the names of actual victims were used. This has thankfully been removed). Even junior games that involved Peppa Pig were seen to contain adult content and horror videos.
- SCAMS AND MICRO-TRANSACTIONS
ROBLOX games heavily push for inappropriate purchasing of the platform’s digital currency. Fake free ROBUX target children leading to hacked accounts and the fear of missing out or not keeping up with their peers, has applied additional pressure.
- CYBERBULLYING
Users can be bullied by creators and be named in games in extremely negative and inappropriate ways.
ROBLOX is not inherently dangerous, but it does have significant risks. While there are growing limitations being added by the Australian government and ROBLOX itself, there are many ways of navigating around these controls and you may be asked to sign up to areas of on behalf of your child without knowing the possible dangers.
Make sure that you create your own account and access the ROBLOX Parent Portal. This will allow you to monitor who they chat and play games with, the time spent on the platform and if real money is being used.
ROBLOX can be made safe with constant active monitoring and by enabling effective parent controls. Be aware of the platforms and games that your children are using at all times and drag those devices out of their bedrooms and into the light!