For the full article, please see: https://www.brabners.com/insights/games-interactive-entertainment/roblox-child-safety-lessons-for-online-gaming-platforms

Roblox, the popular online gaming platform that allows users to play, create and share games, as well as chat and interact with other players, has recently come under scrutiny for its handling of child safety. 

The company has this year faced legal action in the US, including claims arising from allegations that it failed to protect a child in Galveston, Texas from online predators. In August 2025, the State of Louisiana also filed a formal lawsuit against Roblox Corporation, alleging that the platform facilitated child sexual abuse material and exploitation of minors. 

Roblox has strongly denied the allegations and asserts that it has invested heavily in child-safety measures and content moderation. However, this isn’t the first time that the company has been criticised for its approach to protecting children on the platform.

Despite ongoing concerns, the company continues to grow as one of the world’s major gaming platforms, especially popular among UK children aged eight to twelve, with some users as young as five.

Here, Paddy Fearnon and Andreas Petrou from our games and interactive entertainment team explore the allegations against Roblox, outline the wider challenges of protecting children online and break down the steps that platforms are expected to take to safeguard young users.

The hidden dangers behind online play

The platform's social and interactive features, known as user-to-user (U2U) interactions, together with age-inappropriate experiences and illegal and harmful content, are significant areas of online risk for all users — but particularly for children. 

In 2024, the BBC created two fake Roblox user accounts to investigate its safety protections. It was reported that while Roblox's AI systems could detect overt attempts of the fake accounts to move chats to other platforms, it was possible to rephrase these messages in a way that circumvented those safeguards. 

The investigation also reported that user-generated games and experiences containing harmful or age-inappropriate content could still be encountered on the platform, with some such content being recommended to the BBC's test accounts. While Roblox does have parental controls, there have been reported cases where groomers have encouraged children to bypass them, leading some parents to question whether the platform is doing enough to keep their children safe online.

The Louisiana lawsuit alleges a number of failures, including examples of predators using voice-altering technology to impersonate children, the existence of games like ‘Escape to Epstein Island’ and groups openly trading child sexual abuse material. It also claims that Roblox’s design and moderation systems are deliberately inadequate, prioritising growth and engagement over child safety.

In response to growing scrutiny, Roblox has since implemented mandatory age verification measures for chat functionality and introduced age-based communication restrictions designed to reduce contact between children and adults on the platform. Whether these measures will adequately address regulatory and parental concerns remains to be seen.

Holding platforms accountable: what the law demands

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, online safety has become paramount for governments and regulatory bodies worldwide, with particular focus on the protection of children. Various laws and regulations have been established internationally to safeguard users from potential harm and exploitation. These legal frameworks aim to create a safer online environment by holding service providers accountable for the content and interactions that they facilitate. 

In the UK, the Online Safety Act 2023 (the Act) is the primary piece of legislation that governs this. The Children's Code (the Code) also sets stringent standards for online platforms, while the EU and the US have implemented their own comprehensive measures to enhance child safety in the digital age.

Key takeaways & looking ahead 

The increasing scrutiny of Roblox and other similar online platforms underscores the critical need for robust online safety measures, concerning both adult and child users. The implementation of the Act and the Code in the UK and various EU and US laws represents a significant step forward in creating a safer online environment, particularly for children. These comprehensive legal frameworks are designed to hold online service providers accountable, ensuring that they prioritise the well-being of users. Online games and other services are often accessed globally and providers may need to consider international laws as well as domestic when assessing online safety and whether they’re caught by them.

The digital world is evolving and it’s imperative that providers of online services adapt and enhance their safety protocols to protect users from potential harm, as the consequences of non-compliance for a provider could be severe. 

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Our games and interactive entertainment team works with founders and businesses across the games, tech and digital creative sectors, providing legal and strategic advice from company set‑up and investment through to tech and software development, publishing, supply of services, IP protection and management, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution.

As the sector continues to evolve, proactive collaboration supported by strong legal foundations will be key to unlocking innovation and growth.