New klicksafe podcastklicksafe asks... "How safe is Roblox for children?"

On Roblox, players can not only choose from 33 million games. They can also develop their own games with a kind of construction kit. Players move through the Roblox world with their avatar. They can design this according to their own ideas. When they enter one of the experiences, as the games in Roblox are called, they meet other players there. Those who want to can talk to each other via chat. The platform also has its own currency called Robux. It is bought for real money and spent again in the game.

Many protective functions - with weak points

Roblox, with its options for creating content, communicating with each other and spending money, poses some risks for children. Uploaded content can contain extremist messages. Strangers may try to solicit sexual abuse from children. And gambling-like designs of "experiences" can entice children to make purchases.

Roblox has set up some protections for these cases as a precaution. For example, there is a word filter that prevents offensive words or personal information from being mentioned in chat. Players can report inappropriate content to the platform and have it removed. And parents can set their children's Roblox accounts to prevent them from spending money.

Unfortunately, these security measures do not work completely reliably. Judith Eckart from jugendschutz.net has thoroughly reviewed Roblox together with her colleagues. In our new podcast episode you can find out which aspects convinced her and where Roblox needs to improve.