Australia’s online safety regulator has highlighted significant shortcomings in how major gaming platforms protect children online. A recent report revealed inconsistencies in child safety measures across Steam, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft, despite 90% of Australian children aged 8 to 17 having played online games.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant underscored that Australian children deserve to play without exposure to predators and harmful content. The report noted that Valve, owner of Steam, lacks essential technology to detect dangerous content and does not actively monitor chats for child exploitation or violence. Similarly, Roblox relies on outdated internal datasets for language detection.
While Minecraft and Fortnite allow users to self-declare their age, they risk exposing children to inappropriate content due to insufficient verification processes. The report also pointed out the uneven sharing of information among the platforms regarding combatting child exploitation, with Valve not participating in collaborative efforts.
Australia has been in the spotlight for its strong stance on online safety, including a recent social media ban for under-16s that does not cover gaming platforms.
