Australia’s eSafety Commission released a report identifying substantial deficiencies in child safety measures across four major gaming platforms. The assessment examined how Steam, Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft implement protections for users, noting that approximately nine out of ten Australian children aged 8 to 17 participate in online gaming.
The commission found that platforms employ inconsistent methodologies for safeguarding minors against predatory behavior, sexual exploitation, extremist content and other harmful material. Valve, the company operating Steam, stood out as the sole provider among those examined that did not utilize technology commonly deployed across the industry to identify and filter known harmful content. The report also indicated that Valve did not actively employ tools to detect child sexual exploitation or violent material in chat functions, with existing systems primarily designed to flag scam attempts.
Both Roblox and Valve relied exclusively on internal datasets to develop their content detection systems and did not engage in regular retraining of these models. Minecraft and Fortnite permitted users to self-declare their age, creating potential pathways for adults to access communication features designated for higher-risk interactions. Steam similarly depended on user self-reporting for age determination, though the platform had recently instituted credit card-based age verification. Roblox implemented strengthened age verification procedures during the review period.
The report highlighted disparities in how the platforms shared information and participated in collaborative safety initiatives. Minecraft developer Mojang Studios and Roblox both contributed industry knowledge regarding child sexual exploitation and violent extremism prevention. Valve did not participate in such information sharing. Epic Games, which develops Fortnite, failed to report breach instances through a global program established to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The commission’s assessment drew from data collected between October 2025 and March 2026. Roblox indicated it had invested substantially in child safety safeguards including mandatory age verification. Other platforms were contacted for responses to the findings.
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