New research has revealed what experts describe as “deeply disturbing” risks to children on the gaming platform Roblox, exposing a “troubling disconnect between child-friendly appearance and reality”. The investigation by digital-behaviour specialists Revealing Reality found that children as young as five could communicate with adults, access sexually suggestive environments, and encounter predatory behaviour with little effective age verification.
The platform, which boasts over 85 million daily active users—an estimated 40% under 13—allows much of its content to be user-generated. Despite Roblox introducing new parental controls last week, the researchers concluded that “safety controls that exist are limited in their effectiveness and there are still significant risks for children on the platform”. Test accounts registered to fictional users aged five, nine, 10, 13 and 40-plus interacted only with each other, yet still encountered inappropriate content and conversations.
Specific findings included a 10-year-old avatar accessing a hotel space with a female avatar in fishnet stockings gyrating on a bed, and a public bathroom where avatars could choose fetish accessories. Voice chat, available to phone-verified accounts aged 13 and above, featured sexual noises despite real-time AI moderation. An adult test avatar was able to ask a five-year-old avatar for Snapchat details using barely coded language, circumventing text filters.
Roblox acknowledged that “there are bad actors on the internet” and that children may be exposed to harmful content, but said it is working on fixes and called for industry-wide collaboration and government intervention. It added that age verification for under-13s “remains an industry challenge”. Parents have shared stories of grooming and panic attacks linked to the platform, with one 10-year-old boy groomed by an adult he met on Roblox.
Damon De Ionno, research director of Revealing Reality, said: “The new safety features announced by Roblox last week don’t go far enough. Children can still chat with strangers not on their friends list, and the platform remains a high-risk environment for young users.” The company said it “deeply sympathised” with affected families but stressed that “tens of millions of people have a positive, enriching and safe experience on Roblox every day”.
