11/02/2026

WEDNESDAY | FEB 11, 2026

FOLLOW

ON TWITTER Malaysian Paper

8

@thesundaily

Australia urges calm after violent Sydney clashes

Roblox warned over child grooming fears SYDNEY: Australia’s communications minister said yesterday she had written to gaming giant Roblox demanding an urgent meeting over reports of child exploitation on the platform. Around 100 million people use Roblox daily, with under-13s accounting for around 40% of its 2024 users, according to the company. But it has long faced accusations that it is not doing enough to protect children from violent and sexual content. A 2024 report by Hindenburg Research described it as an “X-rated pedophile hellscape” that exposed children to grooming and pornography. Communications Minister Anika Wells said she had written to Roblox bosses urging them to meet her and explain what steps they will take to keep children safe online. “Many of you, I think, like me, were probably disgusted by the fact that children as young as four or five are seeing graphic and gratuitous violence on this platform,” she said on national broadcaster ABC. Wells said she had asked Australia’s internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, to explore taking “urgent measures” against the company. Roblox said last year it would roll out compulsory facial recognition or ID checks for players wanting to access its chat features. The California-based company said it welcomed “the opportunity to inform the minister of the steps we take to help keep our community safe”. A spokesman insisted the firm had “robust safety policies and processes to help protect users that go beyond many other platforms”. Roblox was among several platforms, including Discord, WhatsApp and Lego Play, deemed to be exempt from a ban on under-16s joining social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, that came into effect on Dec 10. Roblox has been banned by other countries including Qatar, Iraq and Turkiye, primarily over child safety concerns, while the US states of Texas and Louisiana sued the app for the same reason. – AFP Talk about toxic content, parents told LONDON: Britain yesterday encouraged parents to speak to their children about the harmful content they could encounter online as the government looks into the pros and cons of a ban on social media for under 16s. Citing research that showed half of parents had never spoken to their children about harmful content, the government said the “You Won’t Know Until You Ask” campaign would provide them with advice on conversations. Technology Minister Liz Kendall said she knew many parents were worried about what their children see and do online. “We are determined to give children the childhood they deserve and prepare them for the future,” she said. “That is why we are supporting parents with this campaign and launching a consultation on how young people can live and thrive in the age of social media.” The campaign will help parents navigate safety settings on social media platforms and start conversations on topics like misinformation and harmful content, the government said. It will be supported by TV ads and content on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The campaign launches weeks after the government said it was prepared to take robust action to protect children online. Ministers are due to visit Australia, which imposed its ban in December, to look at their approach. Kendall has said Britain was weighing the same age threshold as Australia. Spain, Greece, France, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are also considering similar restrictions. – Reuters

o Opposition lawmaker says police punched her

SYDNEY: Australian leaders yesterday urged calm and called on protesters to remain peaceful after clashes between police and demonstrators opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit erupted in Sydney. Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out on Monday evening when police moved in to clear thousands of protesters who had gathered near Sydney’s town hall. Protesters including an opposition lawmaker said yesterday they had been assaulted by officers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the violence and urged protesters to express their views peacefully. “Australians want two things. They don’t want conflict brought here. They want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here,” Albanese told radio station Triple M. “The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes, they are undermined.” There were no reports of serious injuries, New South Wales state police said. Thousands gathered in central Sydney on Monday to protest against Herzog’s visit to Australia, which comes after a mass shooting at a Jewish religious event at Bondi Beach in December that killed 15 people. Police had been authorised to use rarely invoked powers during the protest, including directing crowds to move, restricting their entry to certain areas and searching vehicles. A legal challenge to those restrictions was dismissed by a Sydney court on Monday. Herzog was not present at the protest site. Television footage showed some protesters trying to push through blockades as officers forced them back. Some were seen lying on the ground while police tried to restrain them. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns defended police actions, saying officers were required to make rapid decisions in tense and volatile situations, and urged calm. “I understand there’s criticisms of New South Wales Police, I just want to make it clear they were caught in an impossible situation,” he told a press conference. In a statement, the Palestine Action Group

A woman gives water to a detained protester at Town Hall Square in Sydney on Monday evening. – REUTERSPIC

circumvent platform safety measures. Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, has deployed AI-powered methods to determine age and introduced “Teen Accounts” with automatic restrictions for users under 18. TikTok has implemented 60-minute daily screen time limits for users under 18 and notification cutoffs based on age groups. The industry-wide shift comes as half of US states have enacted or introduced legislation involving age-related social media regulation, though courts have blocked many of the restrictions on free speech grounds. The changes come the same day as a trial in California on social media addiction for children begins in Los Angeles, with plaintiffs alleging Meta’s and YouTube’s platforms were designed to be addictive to minors. – AFP they punched me. I’m really in shock,” she told a press conference. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said police actions were justified and that they showed restraint. “Police did what they needed to do, which was to hold the line and then form and move the protesters back with a view to dispersing them,” he said. “Having an angry and violent mob marching on police is not a situation that I want our officers in.” – Reuters

Sydney said protesters were unable to leave the event because they were surrounded by police on all sides. “The police began charging the crowd with horses, indiscriminately pepper spraying the crowd, punching and arresting people,” the group said. Abigail Boyd, an opposition Green lawmaker in the state parliament, said she had been punched by officers while attempting to vacate the site. “I have a very sore arm and shoulder where

Discord adopts facial recognition SAN FRANCISCO: Messaging platform Discord announced on Monday it will implement enhanced safety features for teenage users globally, including facial recognition, joining a wave of social media companies rolling out age verification systems. always requiring direct verification. “Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users,”said Savannah Badalich, Discord’s head of product policy.

Discord insisted the measures came with privacy protections, saying video selfies for age estimation never leave users’ devices and that submitted identity documents are deleted quickly. The platform said it successfully tested the measures in Britain and Australia last year before expanding worldwide. The move follows similar actions by rivals facing intense scrutiny over child safety. Resorting to facial recognition and other technologies addresses the reality that self reported age has proven unreliable, with minors routinely lying about their birthdates to

The rollout, beginning early next month, will make teen-appropriate settings the default for all users, with adults needing to verify their age to loosen protections including content filters and bans on direct messaging, the company said. The San Francisco-based platform, popular among gamers, will use facial age estimation technology and identity verification through vendor partners to determine users’ ages. Tracking software running in the background will also help determine the age of users without