Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. What action is the Albanese government taking to protect Australian children from harm on the gaming platform Roblox?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gellibrand for his question and for all the thought and work that he gives to this really important area of public policy in this place. The Albanese government proved through its world-leading social media law that it will not stand idly by when it comes to protecting children online, and that is why I have put Roblox on notice. I am disgusted, and we should all be disgusted, by the reports that there are predators using Roblox to target and groom children—with reports that children as young as four are being exposed to graphic and gratuitous content on this platform. That is unacceptable, and I will be using every lever at my disposal to fix this.

Firstly, I have written to Roblox and have demanded an urgent meeting because I want to hear directly from them about what they are doing to protect our children online. Australian children should be able to enjoy an online game without fear of being exploited, manipulated and abused, and Australian parents should be able to let their children play games online without fear that they will be exploited, manipulated or abused. What we are seeing right now is simply not good enough. Secondly, I have written to the eSafety Commissioner seeking urgent advice about what action can be taken to prevent harm to young people on this gaming platform both in the short and the long term. Thirdly, I have requested the classification board to review its rating of Roblox at 'PG'. This was last done in 2018; obviously, things have changed a lot online in the last eight years. Roblox must do better, and we must expect them to do better. The eSafety Commissioner will continue to hold Roblox accountable; I know they are looking into them right now.

Going forward, the Albanese government is committed to legislating a digital duty of care. A digital duty of care will take some of the burden off Australians and put the responsibility on platforms like Roblox to have systems in place to prevent harms from happening in the first place—harms that too many young Australians are familiar with, like predatory behaviour on Roblox; like nonconsensual nudified images being created on Grok; and like algorithms that lead people down rabbit holes and feed them harmful content. These are harms that, for the last decade, we have just accepted as an unavoidable dark side of the internet—that is, until Australians united and sent a clear, unprecedented message to big tech by legislating a minimum age for social media. The Albanese government is on the side of parents, not of platforms, and the safety of young Australians online will always come first.