Our philosophy: Laws protect at the platform level — but they take years to enforce fully. A determined child with a VPN can still access almost anything. The most reliable protection begins at home, with open, ongoing conversations.
Cover story: a flagship report names Roblox by name
The biggest piece of policy news in April was the release of Protecting Kids Online in the AI Era: The Path Forward — Common Sense Media's flagship 2026 report. CSM rates apps for over a million educators and reaches 150 million users worldwide; their reports shape state legislation, school curricula, and platform priorities.
For the first time in a report of this scale, online gaming platforms are treated on equal footing with social media as a top-tier risk to children. Past reports focused on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This one cites 80+ million daily Roblox players, 13,000 reports of child exploitation in a single year (~35 every day), and describes online games as "veritable hunting grounds for predators."
The framing matters: this is no longer advocacy language. It is now the working consensus of the field.
Source: Common Sense Media, April 2026
New York's proposed legislation reads like a parent's wishlist
The report highlights Governor Hochul's 2026 budget package — the most parent-focused gaming legislation introduced anywhere to date. The package would ban stranger DMs to minors, restrict public profile access by default, prohibit financial transactions between strangers and children, and outlaw the dark patterns that pull kids deeper into spending loops.
Source: Common Sense Media, April 2026
AI companions are coming to the games kids already play
The report flags one trend that hasn't yet hit mainstream headlines: advanced chatbots are being added to "social gaming platforms that children are already using." That tracks with what's emerging on Roblox. The risks researchers have documented in standalone AI companion apps — emotional dependence, isolation from peers, harmful advice in long conversations — are now embedded inside the worlds your kids visit every afternoon.
The CSM recommendation is unambiguous: kids should not use AI chatbots for emotional support or mental health advice. Full stop.
Source: Common Sense Media, April 2026
Roblox: where things stand in May 2026
April was a busy month for Roblox specifically — three state settlements, a new account architecture, and an updated Terms of Use all landed within weeks of each other.
$35.8M in settlements with three state AGs
Roblox reached agreements with attorneys general in West Virginia ($11M), Alabama ($12.2M), and Nevada ($12M) following investigations into child safety failures on the platform. As part of the deals, Roblox committed to stricter age verification and chat restrictions for users under 16. Portions of the settlement funds will go to safety education programs, school resource officers, and consumer protection. The West Virginia AG cited findings that the platform had exposed minors to predators, grooming, and inappropriate content.
Source: Bloomberg, April 21, 2026
Roblox Kids and Roblox Select launch
Roblox introduced two new age-based account types: Roblox Kids for ages 5–8 and Roblox Select for ages 9–15. Kids accounts have no chat access by default — parents must link their own account and approve individual contacts one at a time. Older kids gain access to more chat features as they age up, but parents retain visibility and control until 16. Roblox VP of Safety Policy Eliza Jacobs framed the changes as letting parents "fine-tune their child's experience."
Source: Roblox Newsroom, April 2026
Updated Terms of Use take effect
Roblox's revised Terms and Privacy Policy go live this month, clarifying AI tool usage, moderation practices, and advertising transparency. No action is required from parents, but the changes are worth a review on the Roblox Help Center.
Source: Roblox Support
Federal MDL grows to 146 cases
The federal Roblox child exploitation Multi-District Litigation now includes 146 active cases as of April, with more filings expected through the spring. The cases generally allege Roblox failed to warn families of foreseeable risks on the platform.
Source: Consumer Notice, April 2026
Around the world: what countries are doing
Common Sense Media report shifts the policy conversation
The April release of CSM's flagship 2026 report puts online gaming on equal footing with social media for the first time. State legislators in New York, California, and elsewhere are referencing the report in 2026 bills now in progress.
Under-16 social media ban data emerging
The ban took effect December 2025. Over 4.7 million under-16 accounts have been restricted. Brazil, Denmark, France, the UK, New Zealand, and Singapore are tracking the rollout to inform their own approaches.
Roblox parent campaign concludes first phase
Following the April 7 agreement that pulled the platform back from a national ban, the public parent information campaign Roblox launched in the Philippines completed its first phase this month.
5 things every parent can do right now
Legislation takes years. The new Roblox account settings can happen tonight. Here are five concrete steps for May:
- Set up Roblox Kids or Select for younger children. If your child is under 16, the new account types give you more visibility and control by default.
- Check the chat default. Roblox Kids accounts have no chat at all by default. If you want your child to talk to specific friends or siblings, you'll need to link your own account and approve them one at a time.
- Ask which AI characters they like. If your child plays Roblox, they've talked to an AI NPC this week. Know which ones — and how those conversations go.
- Look at what else is installed. Discord, Snap, and dedicated chat apps sit alongside the games and matter just as much.
- Read the Common Sense Media report yourself. It's the clearest articulation of where children's online safety stands in 2026. Then share it with one other parent.
Parent corner: the gap is the conversation
The CSM report makes one point especially clearly: the most consistent risk to kids online is not any single new technology — it's the gap between what platforms know, what regulators are doing, and what families are told. New laws and platform updates are real progress, but laws take years and platform defaults get reset every time you blink.
The reliable layer is the conversation that happens in your kitchen.
One conversation starter for this week
"There's a new kind of Roblox account just for kids your age. Want to set it up together so you can show me how it works?"
Curiosity beats lecture, every time.
How GuardianGamer helps you stay in the loop
- ✓ Chat visibility — see conversations, including deleted messages
- ✓ Cross-platform games — Roblox, Minecraft, and more in one place
- ✓ Contact monitoring — know who's reaching out to your child
- ✓ Pattern detection — AI flags concerning interactions
- ✓ Activity summaries — daily digests so you don't have to hover
- ✓ The GuardianGamer Assistant — ask plain-language questions about your child's gaming
Parenting in the digital age starts with visibility.
Platform safety tools are improving — but they can't replace an informed parent. GuardianGamer gives you a clear view across platforms so you can have better conversations and stay connected to your child's online world.
Download on the App StoreNo contracts. Cancel anytime. Just visibility for better parenting.
Sources cited
Common Sense Media — Protecting Kids Online in the AI Era · Bloomberg — Roblox $35.8M settlement with three states · Roblox Newsroom — Roblox Kids and Select accounts · WROC Rochester — Roblox safety features and Monroe County deputies · Consumer Notice — Roblox MDL April 2026 update · Roblox Safety Center · Roblox Terms of Use update · Wikipedia — Child safety on Roblox (settlements summary)