Automated systems fail to protect children in child-centric virtual worlds

The paper concludes that while AI is essential for scaling moderation, its current deployment lacks the cultural, emotional, and ethical sophistication necessary for safe child engagement on dynamic platforms like Roblox. The authors call for moderation systems that are context-aware, ethically guided, and specifically tailored to immersive and gamified digital environments.

Roblox, the massively popular user-generated virtual platform, is under intensifying legal and ethical scrutiny as new research highlights its struggles to protect children from harmful online content. Despite boasting over 380 million monthly users, many of them under the age of 16, the platform’s hybrid content moderation system is failing to meet the safety expectations of parents, regulators, and child welfare experts.

A new study “AI Moderation and Legal Frameworks in Child-Centric Social Media: A Case Study of Roblox,” published in Laws lays bare the inadequacies of current AI-powered moderation tools, and calls for a redefinition of virtual harm within international law to safeguard young users in immersive digital worlds .

How effective is AI moderation in protecting children on Roblox?

The study details Roblox’s reliance on a dual-tier moderation system combining real-time AI filtering with global human oversight. Using natural language processing, machine learning, and image detection, AI systems monitor billions of daily interactions for red flags. These include inappropriate chat messages, adult-themed user-generated games, and policy-violating avatars. However, researchers found that these automated tools often fail to understand context, detect coded language, or identify nuanced threats like grooming and psychological coercion.

Case studies cited include a 2021 incident where a sexually explicit game went viral among child players before being taken down. Other flagged risks include exposure to Nazi-themed environments and repeated cyberbullying incidents that AI failed to intercept until public backlash mounted. Even more troubling, some predators have reportedly used avatars and in-game rewards to build trust with minors and manipulate them into harmful situations. Roblox’s content filters were often bypassed by linguistic workarounds, while human moderators were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of real-time content flow .

The paper concludes that while AI is essential for scaling moderation, its current deployment lacks the cultural, emotional, and ethical sophistication necessary for safe child engagement on dynamic platforms like Roblox. The authors call for moderation systems that are context-aware, ethically guided, and specifically tailored to immersive and gamified digital environments.

Do existing legal frameworks adequately protect children in immersive social platforms?

The study performs a comparative analysis of global legal frameworks such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the UK Online Safety Act. These laws, although progressive in principle, fall short when applied to virtual worlds like Roblox. For instance, the GDPR mandates parental consent for users under 13–16, but the avatar-based anonymity of Roblox makes age verification practically impossible without risking data privacy. Furthermore, while the DSA requires transparency and algorithmic accountability for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), Roblox’s classification as a VLOP remains unclear, leaving regulatory gaps in risk mitigation and harm redressal .

In the United States, Roblox is protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields platforms from liability for user-generated content. This legal immunity means that even when predators exploit Roblox to contact and groom children, the platform cannot be held legally accountable. The paper argues that this outdated legal logic ignores Roblox’s role as both a content host and co-developer, due to its provision of in-game creation tools, monetization schemes, and community infrastructure.

The study proposes redefining “virtual harm” to include not just illegal speech but also immersive behavioral manipulation, in-game psychological abuse, and algorithmic targeting. Without this shift, current legal definitions will continue to underestimate the risks posed by immersive, child-centric digital platforms.

What reforms are needed to protect young users in the Metaverse?

The authors propose a multi-pronged approach to regulating content moderation and legal accountability in Metaverse environments:

• Hybrid AI-Human Moderation Overhaul: Moderation systems should shift from keyword-based filtering to behavioral pattern recognition. AI should flag sequences of grooming-like behavior or team-based bullying scenarios for immediate human review.

• Child-Friendly Appeals Mechanisms: The study underscores that most children do not understand why their content gets removed or accounts suspended. Appeals systems must be simplified, transparent, and accessible to minors and their guardians.

• Redefinition of Legal Harm: Platforms must be held liable not only for illegal content but for psychological harm, emotional exploitation, and coerced play behaviors. The authors recommend expanding legal doctrines to include digital personhood for avatars, enabling enforceable penalties like account seizure or virtual fines.

• Jurisdictional Harmonization: The study advocates for international cooperation in regulating Metaverse environments, including the establishment of a treaty or convention to standardize platform liability, define virtual harm, and facilitate cross-border legal action.

• Consent and Privacy Reform: With avatar-driven experiences becoming dominant, the paper highlights the urgent need for new consent models, such as pre-set interaction boundaries and visibility controls, to safeguard minors from unsolicited contact or exposure to harmful content.

The study’s overarching recommendation is for governments, platforms, and civil society to embrace a shared-responsibility model. This includes stricter platform obligations, robust parental engagement, and regulatory ecosystems that protect digital dignity as fiercely as physical safety.