The internet has led to an increase in dangerous activity among young people. Through the emergence of online platforms in the 21st century, there has been an exposure of dangerous activities and individuals whose main attempt is to prey on minors for their own selfish purposes. This has led to strife over whether owners of major online platforms should implement stricter regulations and controls to monitor children’s online activity. When it comes to minor safety, there should be stronger policies to ensure that the children using those platforms are safe from being taken advantage of by individuals, collectives, or even the platforms themselves.

One of the main reasons to instill more online safety policies is to reduce unhealthy behaviors, such as addiction, in adolescence. For instance, a British Columbia (B.C.) boy became addicted to Roblox, an online video game, to the point that he racked up $300 to $400 in Robux (Roblox’s in-game currency), leading his parents to file a lawsuit against Roblox, according to a CBC article by Liam Britten. In addition, Roblox’s lax moderation system regarding B.C. boy’s online activity is an example of how online platforms have failed to directly protect children’s safety by allowing them to continue engaging in arduous behaviors as B.C. boy’s screentime increased while he used Roblox.

Furthermore, individuals with malicious intent take advantage of online platforms to promote violent practices in youth. This case is exemplified most notably on the Online Platform Discord through extremist groups targeting teenagers using the platform to get them to engage in their criminal activities, according to NBC Journalist Kevin Colliner. According to Colliner, there have been reports of 20 juvenile-led plots of extreme and irrational activities in Discord. These plots are possible because the platform’s relaxed restrictions allow anyone to join and operate on its servers.

Lastly, there is a trend of minors getting more exposure to disturbing content made to arouse harmful actions and thoughts. Elliot, a 14-year-old boy, was exposed to this type of content, such as gore, by many groups on the online networks 764 and CVLT, according to an NPR article by Odesseta Youseff. Moreover, Elliot had a more extremist perspective on ideologies because of the accessibility of content that perturbed his own mother, Dana, when she read it. It is important to note that, despite similar cases to Elliot’s, these online platforms continue to function as normal with their relaxed moderation policies.

Some people argue that the online platforms themselves shouldn’t be held accountable for the incidents that occur on the platform because of children consumers voluntarily using them out of their own free will, and the online platforms are not responsible for overseeing every underage user activity and making sure it is safe. However, there is still fault on the online platforms and their moderation systems, given the promise of safety for each user under the agreement. In addition, these online platforms prioritize engagement to generate profit, but they sacrifice underage users’ safety by leaving them vulnerable on platforms that allow the circumvention of regulations on problematic users’ online activity to prevent engagement from decreasing.