Australia says platforms like Steam and Roblox have 'significant' child safety gaps
Summary
Australia's online safety agency found that gaming platforms like Steam, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft have serious problems protecting children from harmful content and contact with predators. The report shows these platforms use inconsistent safety methods, such as relying on users to say their age and weak detection tools for dangerous content.Key Facts
- Nine out of 10 Australian children aged 8 to 17 have played online games.
- Steam (owned by Valve) does not use common technology to detect harmful content and mainly flags scams in chats.
- Roblox and Valve use only their own data to train systems that detect harmful language and do not update these systems regularly.
- Minecraft and Fortnite allow users to declare their own age, letting some kids access risky communication features.
- Steam recently added age checks using credit cards; Roblox improved its age checks in late 2025.
- Valve did not share information or cooperate in industry efforts to fight child sexual exploitation, unlike Minecraft and Roblox developers.
- Epic Games (maker of Fortnite) did not report breaches in a global program against online child abuse.
- The report covers data from October 2025 to March 2026 and comes after Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, which does not include gaming platforms.
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