"There are growing calls for the federal government to address the risks posed to children on the popular gaming platform Roblox after Guardian Australia published a report that documented a week of virtual sexual harassment and violence. While playing as an eight-year-old girl, the reporter was given a sexualised avatar, cyberbullied, aggressively killed, sexually assaulted and shat on all with parental control settings in place."
"At a press conference on Wednesday, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said platforms were assessed by their sole and significant purpose. Kids who are using Roblox today, they use the chat functionality and messaging so that they can online gameplay, she said. If the online gameplay were taken away, would the kids still use that messaging functionality to chat? Probably not."
A week of virtual sexual harassment and violence occurred while playing as an eight-year-old avatar on Roblox, including sexualised avatars, cyberbullying, aggressive killing, sexual assault and defecation, despite parental controls. Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Kick will be included in Australia’s social media ban for under-16s from 10 December, while Roblox is currently excluded. The eSafety framework exempts platforms whose primary purpose is online gameplay, using a sole and significant purpose test. Critics and some politicians argue that platforms combining user-created content, messaging and gameplay should be covered by the ban to better protect children.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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