Australia says gaming giants like Steam have "significant" child safety gaps

Australia’s online safety watchdog has put some of the world’s largest gaming companies on notice, saying they have “significant gaps” in protecting children from predators and violent extremism.

The eSafety Commission’s new transparency report, released on Friday, examined how the providers of Steam, Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft were meeting Australia’s Basic Online Safety Expectations after April’s notices.

“Australian children have a right to play online without being exposed to predators, sexual extortionists, violent extremist content or other harmful material,” commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

eSafety found Fortnite maker Epic Games and Minecraft maker Mojang Studios still relied on age self-declaration, letting users claiming to be over 18 reach high-risk features, including all-ages chatrooms. Valve, the developer behind Steam, did not take part in industry initiatives against child sexual exploitation online that Mojang and Roblox joined.

Roblox has added safeguards since a court-enforceable undertaking in August, including private-by-default children’s accounts and blocking adult contact with unknown children without parental consent. Roblox said it had invested heavily in “one of the gaming industry’s largest trust and safety teams” and “continue to strengthen our multi-layered safeguards”.

“Major online platforms have a fair way to go to level up on safety,” Ms Inman Grant wrote in her eSafety blog on the report.

Sources

• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjvgygzzy6lro (BBC; page blocked to text fetch in this session)
• https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/online-gaming-services-under-scrutiny-over-child-safety (AAP, 1 Oct 2026)
• https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/blogs/why-safety-should-always-be-the-aim-of-the-game (eSafety Commission blog, Julie Inman Grant, 02/10/26)
• https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-asks-roblox-minecraft-detail-child-safety-measures-2026-04-21/ (Reuters, 21 Apr 2026)