Mum tells of horror ‘when she found explicit snaps of her pre-teen son after he was groomed as he played Roblox’
A MUM has revealed how she became "physically sick" when she discovered explicit pictures her pre-teen son had sent a paedophile who she says groomed him while he was playing popular online game Roblox.
She told the how she discovered a stash of horrific messages between her young son and an unidentified abuser when she checked the game after he became withdrawn.
"They were talking about rape. They were talking sexual activities that were pornographic," the mum told the BBC.
She also revealed that she was "physically sick" after making the "horrifying" discovery of "sexually explicit" pictures her son had sent.
The mum said that she had turned on all of Roblox's parental controls which should have stopped her child from talking to anyone else in the game itself.
After he became withdrawn she checked the device he had been playing on and found a third-party app had been installed allowing him to talk to strangers.
Responding to the story, Roblox claimed that the third-party app in question was a popular gaming chat program called Discord.
";The online grooming happened in a separate third-party application, which was identified as Discord," the company said in a Facebook post.
"Discord is not affiliated or integrated with Roblox in any way, but often causes confusion as the application’s 'overlay' feature places a transparent chat screen directly over whatever video game is being played," they say.
What is Roblox?
Here's what you need to know...
- Roblox is a massively multiplayer game for young players
- It lets anyone design their own mini-games and virtual worlds
- These "social network" games are created using Lego-like virtual blocks
- Players can create their own avatars, and speak to other gamers in real-time
- The game was released back in 2006, and now has more than 64million players globally
- It's available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, Xbox One and Facebook's Oculus Rift
- Roblox has proved controversial due to the creation of sex games inside the app
- These areas are meant to be adult only, but some children have managed to access them when in-game roadblocks failed
- The game is age-rated 7+ in the UK and Europe
The mum reports that her son is "broken" as a result of the abuse.
She also claimed that she did not get a response from Roblox when she contacted them about the abuse.
The BBC reports that Roblox did not respond directly to this allegation, because it was unable to comment on individual cases.
Police told the BBC they were unable to act because the people contacting the child were outside of the UK.
Responding to the story, Roblox said "it’s our responsibility to keep kids safe on our platform and help parents navigate what can often be a confusing and frightening digital world.
"We respond to every report of abuse, proactively report bad actors, and engage with law enforcement around the world, including the UK, to help protect the safety of our players. "
WHAT ARE THIRD-PARTY APPS?
MANY apps exist on phones and computers that can are meant to allow players to talk to each other while gaming, irrespective of the games they're actually playing.
As well as being able to use normal chat apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, the most popular one for gaming is Discord.
Unlike many other gaming chat apps, it allows for text chat and the sharing of images along with voice communication.
Discord is rated as a "medium risk" app for children by the NSPCC's Net Aware programme, and has a minimum age of 13.
Users' create 'servers' for specific games or interest groups, which others can join just by clicking a link.
By default, once you're on that server you can talk to - and be messaged by - anyone else on it.
While the app does have privacy settings it doesn't have any parental controls, so anyone using it can just de-activate them if they want to.
Discord had not responded to a request for comment about its lack of parental controls by the time we published this story.
Last year an American mother had revealed how she had seen her seven-year-old daughter's character being "gang raped" in the game.
A Sun Investigation later revealed how Roblox had become a haven for Jihadi, Nazi and KKK roleplay.
In response to this incidents Roblox tightened up their moderation procedures and brought new staff on board.
"Every piece of communication on our platform is scanned by automated filters for inappropriate language," the firm says, "and over 800 human moderators review content 24x7."
In January, they appointed online safety expert Laura Higgins as head of a new "digital civility" division.
“Because Roblox is rapidly growing into one of the most popular places for kids and teens to hang out and play online, we have a duty to make sure that when they use our platform they can explore their creativity freely and safely,” Higgins said at the time.
Her role was set to include "partnering with digital safety leaders around the world" to make the platform safer for kids, according to the company.
The firm is now "relentless in shutting down bad actors, and we work quickly with other platforms to do the same," they said.
Top tips for parents from the UK Safer Internet Centre
British online safety charity Childnet has some tips for parents to help young people stay safe on Roblox.
1. Stay engaged and have regular conversations
- Show an interest in the games your children are playing. This could be through having a conversation about what they like to play or could be through watching them play the game. You could even have a go at playing the games yourself! If children know you have an interest in the game, they may feel more comfortable talking to you about it or coming to you for help if they need it.
2. Help them understand the importance of personal information
- Check that your child understands:
- the importance of keeping their personal information safe
- that the should speak to an adult straight away if the chat goes from being about the game to meeting up offline, personal information or sending images.
3. Set rules around spending money in games
Have a conversation with your child to make sure they realise that is possible to spend real money on the game. Make promises that work for your family; perhaps your child will have to ask you for permission before they make an in-game purchase.
4. Make use of the safety features available
- Block and report:
Make sure your child knows how to find and use the report and block functions. Use theto learn how to do this. - Safety settings:
Set up the parental controls that are right for your family. You can also disable chat, set up the Parent PIN and use the Account Restrictions within Roblox. for more information on how to use the Safety features. - Settings for under 13s:
There are additional safety features for under-13s , so it’s worth checking your child’s account is registered with the correct age. Players under the age of 13 have a <13 symbol next to their username on the game at all times, however this is not displayed to other players.
5. Encourage them to tell you about concerns
- Remind your child that they should come to you if they ever see something inappropriate, mean comments or if anything worries them within the game. If you know how to report this type of content within Roblox, you will be in the best position to help them if they need it.
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