Irish children as young as five remain vulnerable to 'predators' and 'bad actors' using a hugely popular gaming platform the Government says it is powerless to act against, new research has found.
The research into the controversial Roblox platform was carried out by the CyberSafeKids charity in partnership with Atlantic Technological University (ATU).
CyberSafeKids researcher Olwyn Beresford expressed 'grave concern' about the level of 'sexualised behaviour in role- playing games on the site'.
And she warned the EU is not doing enough to protect vulnerable young children from predators who use the platform, which has its headquarters in Holland.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: 'Children on Roblox are using a vocabulary I haven't heard before.
'They are using slang terms for sexual acts they should not be aware of. Roblox has put time and effort into verification, but I think someone of a particular mindset can access children on this platform.
'There are bad actors, predators out there. Children have avatars called Woman Rapist without knowing what it is.'
The child protection expert was speaking as the Government was this week accused of 'effectively doing nothing' to protect children from grooming and exploitation on online gaming sites.
Independent TD Carol Nolan spoke out after Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan confirmed the Online Safety Code is powerless to protect Irish children from predators who target them on gaming platforms registered outside the country.
Concern is especially centred on the Roblox platform, which remains hugely popular with Irish primary school children despite new research which indicates it is still being used to groom minors.
Roblox is made up of millions of user-created games, where children of all ages can play and chat together.
But unlike most social media companies that require users to be 13 to make an account, the youngest sign-up age for Roblox is just five years old.
The company is registered in Holland, which is covered by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
However, in response to parliamentary queries from Carol Nolan and his fellow Fianna Fáil ministerial colleague Niamh Smyth - whose brief covers AI and digital transformation - Minister O'Callaghan said Ireland is effectively powerless to Irish children on gaming platforms such as Roblox.
The Minister said the Online Safety Code introduced by Ireland's online safety and media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, in 2022 'only applies to the designated video sharing platforms services (such as YouTube or Tik-Tok), operating in Ireland and not online gaming platforms (like Roblox).'
The Dublin Bay South TD added: 'I am advised that its European headquarters are in Amsterdam, and accordingly it is under the remit of the Dutch regulatory authorities. Therefore, any investigation or oversight is a matter for the Dutch regulator.'
Asked this weekend if the Minister or his department officials had relayed Irish parents' concerns about Roblox to Brussels or the Dutch authorities, a spokesperson would only say: 'The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, is the lead department for online safety and the associated regulation and oversight of online platforms. You should refer your queries to that Department.'
A Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said: that 'responsibility for policy on the Digital Services Act in Ireland is within the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment'.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Enterprise told the MoS: 'The press query refers to the Online Safety Code which is under the remit of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.'
Ms Nolan said the responses are 'a deeply alarming admission that the Government is effectively doing nothing to protect children from the very real and growing threat of grooming and exploitation on online gaming platforms'.
The threat posed to Irish children by gaming sites was highlighted in an RTÉ Prime Time programme last year, which found examples of simulated lap dances, clothing branded with racial slurs and suicide discussions on Roblox.
Olwyn Beresford said that, despite promises of reform, 'Roblox are still very much a problem', and cited the continued presence of 'AI therapists and AI girlfriends' on the site.
She added that the EU 'to our mind, are not looking at this seriously enough', noting: 'There is a ban in countries across the world - Turkey, Russia China and Qatar and the company is being heavily sued in America. Their reforms are very much driven by lawsuits. We need to make parents aware this is not a friendly platform for children to engage in.'
These concerns were echoed by former senior Interpol detective and Hotline.ie chief Mick Moran, who said Roblox 'is very much a gateway platform for more sinister activities'.
He told the MoS: 'There are serious concerns it is still being used to get children under control. It may be for sexual extortion or sexual exploitation. Roblox are making a very public effort to clean up their site but fundamentally as a platform it is still unsafe.'
Ms Nolan said it is 'simply intolerable to allow gaming platforms to have what amounts to free unregulated abusive access to children'.
She added: 'The Government must immediately include online gaming platforms, especially those with a documented history of verifiable threats to children, within the scope of the Online Safety Code. It must ensure real-time enforcement and sanction.
'The bottom line is this; there should be no safe hiding spaces for child abusers in either the online world or the offline world.'
A Roblox spokeswoman told the MoS: 'Our platform has advanced safeguards and filters designed to prevent harmful content and communications on our platform and a robust set of community standards.
'We limit chat for younger users, we do not allow image or video sharing in chat, and we have chat filters designed to block the sharing of personal information.'
She added that they had 24-hour 'dedicated safety teams and 'swift action' is taken 'against those found to be breaking our rules'.