Keeping Kids Safe: Roblox, Fortnite & Discord Explained

Understanding the Appeal and the Risks

Roblox, Fortnite, and Discord are designed to be engaging, offering creative gameplay, competitive challenges, and social connections. Roblox, with its user-generated games, allows children to play, create, and interact in a vast virtual world. Fortnite offers a battle royale experience with social emotes and vibrant events. Discord is a chat platform where users can create servers to communicate via text, voice, and video.

While these platforms foster creativity and socialisation, they also expose children to potential risks. These include interactions with strangers, exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and attempts at scams or account theft. Children, especially younger ones, may not always recognise these dangers, making parental guidance essential.

Common Threats on These Platforms

Online grooming is a significant concern, where predators attempt to build inappropriate relationships with children, often by feigning friendship or offering in-game benefits. This can start subtly and escalate over time, sometimes moving chats off-platform. It's vital for children to understand that 'friends' online may not be who they say they are.

Scams are also prevalent. Children might be lured by promises of free in-game currency, rare items, or special access, which often lead to phishing attempts or requests for personal information. Account theft can occur if children click on malicious links or share their login details, resulting in loss of their progress, items, or even access to linked payment methods.

Discord, being a more open chat platform, also carries risks of exposure to inappropriate language or content in public servers. While many servers are moderated, some can be less regulated or specifically designed for adult content. Children can also be targeted for cyberbullying or harassment in private or public channels.

Implementing Parental Controls and Safety Features

All three platforms offer various parental controls and safety features that Australian parents should activate and regularly review. These settings allow you to manage who your child can interact with, restrict spending, filter content, and monitor activity. It's not a 'set and forget' situation; regular check-ins are important as children grow and platform features evolve.

For Roblox, enabling 'Account Restrictions' and setting communication limits are crucial. Fortnite allows you to set up a parental PIN for purchase control and restrict voice chat. On Discord, you can enable 'Safe Direct Messaging' to scan and delete explicit media and control who can send friend requests.

Key Parental Control Actions:

• Review and activate all available parental controls on each platform.
• Set strong, unique passwords for your child's accounts and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) where available.
• Link your own email address or phone number to the accounts for easier recovery and notifications.
• Regularly check your child's in-game purchase settings and consider setting spending limits or requiring your approval for all transactions.

Open Communication and Digital Literacy

Beyond technical settings, the most effective protection is open and ongoing communication with your children. Encourage them to talk about their online experiences, who they're playing with, and anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Create a judgement-free space where they feel safe to report issues without fear of having their devices taken away.

Teach your children fundamental digital literacy skills: never share personal information (full name, address, school), never click on suspicious links, and never agree to meet online 'friends' in person without adult supervision. Explain why these rules are important and the potential consequences of ignoring them.

What to Do When Things Go Wrong

Despite best efforts, incidents can still occur. If your child encounters grooming attempts, scams, or other serious issues, it's important to act promptly. Firstly, report the incident to the platform itself (Roblox, Epic Games, Discord) using their in-app reporting tools. Collect screenshots or other evidence if possible. Block and unfriend the perpetrator immediately.

For more serious incidents involving illicit content or grooming, consider reporting to ReportCyber, Australia's national cybercrime reporting portal, or directly to the Australian Federal Police. If financial loss or identity theft occurs, contact your bank and IDCARE for support. When something goes wrong online and you're feeling overwhelmed, KNOMI is who you call. Our experts can help you navigate the aftermath of an incident, providing clear, practical advice and support to restore peace of mind.

Frequently asked questions