Gaming Platforms as Hunting Grounds for Online Predators
by Sarah Womer
Online gaming platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft have continued to experience a surge in popularity, particularly among children and teenagers. While these platforms offer opportunities for creativity and social interaction, they can also harbor dark undertones, with past instances showing that they can serve as venues for predatory behavior, inappropriate content, physical harm, and other alarming issues, such as online radicalization and indoctrination. This article examines aspects of Roblox and highlights the importance of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) in protecting online safety for younger users. Youth is defined as anyone under the age of 18.
Roblox and Minecraft are not just games; they are expansive platforms where users can create, share, and play experiences crafted by themselves and others. This sense of community is engaging but can make youth vulnerable to exploitation and dangerous encounters. Both platforms have dark aspects, and news coverage has indicated that both Roblox and Minecraft have been utilized for online recruitment and indoctrination to decentralized nihilistic violent extremism.
A stark example of the dangers on Roblox came to light when a group dubbed "Greggy’s Cult" and 764 were reported to have recruited youth through the platform, encouraging self-harm for sadistic exploitation. Such incidents highlight how predatory criminal elements leverage the platform's design to manipulate and endanger children.
Predators often use external platforms like Discord or Telegram for private communications with their victims after luring them off the gaming platform, facilitating interactions that bypass Roblox’s built-in security measures. This phenomenon raises the concern that predators can easily transition from a relatively safe environment into far more troubling channels of communication with little to no oversight. Roblox has recently started implementing new features to help protect youth, such as facial recognition-based age identification for chat.
Recent cases have also documented users who have successfully evaded age verification processes on Roblox, allowing older individuals to prey on younger players. One case involved a 17-year-old using Roblox to groom younger children across multiple states, showcasing how current technology guardrails can easily be bypassed.
The largest protection for youth on Roblox, or any gaming platform, does not come from the platform itself but comes from parents and trusted adults.
For those looking to delve into some safety protocols, here are some recommended strategies:
Educate About the Platforms: Understanding the design, functionalities, and common pitfalls of Roblox, Minecraft, and other gaming platforms is crucial for parents, guardians, and investigators. This also includes familiarizing oneself with the in-game jargon and recent trends.
Healthy Conversations: For parents and trusted adults, it is essential to encourage healthy conversations. Establish open dialogue with youth about their gaming experiences, and urge them to share any uncomfortable interactions or content they encounter.
Parental Controls Should Be Used on Gaming Platforms: The settings on these platforms allow for enhanced restrictions on chat and other interaction features, which can be essential for younger users.
Review the Games: Platforms, like Roblox, allow almost anyone to create experiences and games. In some instances, a game, in and of itself, could be inappropriate or even designed to be predatory. Trusted adults should look at what games are being played and review who made it.
No Strangers: Trusted adults should have a strict no-chat policy with strangers on platforms like Roblox for youth, not just youth under 13, but all youth on ANYTHING outside the game. For youth under 13, they should not be accessing Roblox’s in-chat features in the first place. Predators can, and do, piece bits of information together about their targets for grooming, and even for geolocation for possible physical encounters. Predators can even combine this type of information with pattern analysis of family members' social media accounts to target them. In other words, trusted adults should ensure that their youth is not providing any PII, including but not limited to, first name, last name, pet’s name, etc.
Consider playing with your youth on the platform once or twice to open a channel for dialogue.
The implementation of age verification measures on platforms like Roblox has been met with skepticism about their effectiveness. Recent calls for stricter age limits on social media, such as those proposed in Australia, may provide a framework for safer online gaming interactions; however, they also require substantial modifications. One shortcoming of Australia's law is that it does not apply to gaming networks that incorporate social channels. For guardians and parents of minors, it is reasonable and effective to know who their children are playing with and to review the games they are playing.
Being informed about the common lingo used on these platforms can help parents, guardians, and investigators navigate the nuances of online gaming. For example, understanding terms like "obby" for obstacle courses or discussions surrounding "bots" can offer valuable insights into user behavior.
Environments in Roblox and other interactive online gaming environments present unique challenges for child safety. While young users may enjoy the creativity and socialization these platforms offer, it is vital to remain aware of the potential dangers lurking in these virtual spaces.
Stay informed, stay engaged, and utilize available resources to ensure a safer online gaming experience for your children. Leverage OSINT methods to keep up with the ever-evolving landscape of online threats and empower yourself and your children with the knowledge they need to navigate safely in the digital age.
This content was developed in part using AI assistance from DocBot.
Image created using Canva AI.