Illustrative stock photograph: africaimages / Envato.
Australia’s online safety regulator has challenged the companies behind Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and Steam to improve child protections, after finding substantial differences in how they detect harmful material and respond to risks.
The findings, released by the eSafety Commissioner on Friday, put the focus on safeguards against child sexual exploitation, harmful contact and violent extremist activity. They also raise a practical question for parents: how much protection does a child’s account actually provide?
The regulator’s announcement says the review examined information supplied under compulsory notices covering 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026. Some providers have made improvements since that period, meaning the findings should be read alongside subsequent changes.
What the regulator found
The published findings describe different approaches across the services.
Fortnite: Epic Games reviewed each Island before it became available. However, eSafety identified concerns about age self-declaration and said Epic did not share child-exploitation signals through Lantern or comparable initiatives.
Roblox: The company used tools to detect harmful user-created Experiences after publication. It also shared safety information through Lantern and worked with Discord on child-safety and violent-extremism trends.
Minecraft: Players claiming to be adults could access third-party servers without proactive moderation by Mojang Studios. The company used scanning and user reports to identify high-risk servers, and participated in several industry information-sharing initiatives.
Steam and Steam Chat: Valve lacked hash-matching tools, which help identify previously confirmed illegal material. Steam Chat had limited proactive detection beyond a URL tool mainly targeting scams.
These findings concern particular systems and reporting-period practices. They do not establish that every game or interaction on a service presents the same risk.
Why age checks matter
According to eSafety’s announcement, Fortnite and Minecraft offered child-account protections but relied on users declaring their age. Claiming to be an adult could unlock higher-risk features without additional checks.
The regulator also highlighted changes to age checks: Roblox introduced stronger age assurance in December 2025, while Steam subsequently introduced credit-card age checks. eSafety said it was engaging with Valve about offering users more choice.
For families, the practical issue is whether the account is recognised as belonging to a child and whether the available protections cover the features that child actually uses.
Roblox says safeguards are improving
In a response reported by news.com.au, Roblox said it continued to strengthen its safeguards, citing its Trust and Safety team, detection technology and mandatory age checks for chat. These are the company’s statements, rather than an independent assessment by NextNews.
What parents can do now
eSafety’s gaming guide for parents recognises that games can support friendships, learning and enjoyment. Its advice centres on being involved, understanding the risks and making it easy for children to seek help.
A useful starting point is to explore the game together and ask who the child plays with. Check the communication features and practise finding the mute, block and report controls before a problem occurs.
Children should know they can approach a trusted adult if someone threatens them, asks for sexual content or keeps contacting them against their wishes. Respond calmly and reassure them that abuse is not their fault.
The guide also directs families to support services including Kids Helpline and headspace. Support should remain accessible even when a child feels embarrassed or worries they have broken a household rule.
What this means for families
For families, the practical takeaway is to look beyond a familiar game name. Ask what happens inside the particular account, server or experience: who can make contact, which protections apply and how a concern is reported.
The regulator’s scrutiny puts responsibility on providers to strengthen those systems. For parents, it provides a reason to revisit existing settings and conversations, including on games their children have used for years.
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