It is not any different now than it was then. There are some… exotic… folks who do RP in ways that are not allowed. If they are caught they will get penalized up to, and including, having the account closed.
- They are well aware of those issues which is why players are asked to report what they see. They are also aware of the profanity, slurs, insults, and general toxicity of online gaming in general and work to curb that in their games. Blizzard does not have real time scanning AI checking our chat though. They depend on players reporting to capture the name, server, time, chat channel, and chat logs.
- Policies are more strictly enforced than they used to be. The penalties have changed over time from short suspensions, to a few years where they used Silences limiting in game communications, and now long Suspensions. First penalty is now a week Silence. Second offense is a week Suspension. It goes up from there. ILLEGAL activity is handled more harshly.
- There are many many tools already available for players and parents. Parents need to USE those tools.
A. Set up Parental Controls on the account. You can limit game play hours, turn off all chats, turn off in-game purchases, and get reports of the account activity. This covers everything, even if you don’t do B, or C.
B. Security and Privacy Account Settings here on the website- turn the chat functions off there as well, turn off the ability to share data with third party apps, turn off anything else that can be used to communicate or share data. This impacts Battlenet Chat through the app and across some Blizzard games.
C. In-game Options there is also a place to turn off chat system that is legacy to WoW.
D. If you do have chat on for some reason, Enable the Profanity filter. It does not excuse or allow profanity in-game, but it does protect minors from people who can’t follow the rules.
E. REPORT them. Right click report captures the name, server, chat channel, time, and chat logs.
F. Put them on Ignore! Then you won’t risk seeing them again either.
G. The Addon now has a REPORT function built into it. Use it to report any profiles that are displaying inappropriate language.
H. Do not install any RP addons on a child’s computer.
I. IF you do have an issue with a single person targeting you with chat - you can file an Ongoing Harassment ticket. To build that case they first need to be placed on IGNORE and kept there. Do not ever engage or talk to them. Write down any attempts to circumvent the ignore and report it as Ongoing Harassment. Some good info here Spotlight on: Harassment
All that said, if they keep it private where strangers can’t see it, Blizzard does not go looking for it. Real time monitoring was tried and made things worse - people acted up to get GM attention and others just quit reporting thinking Blizz would somehow get them all. If you see something, report something. That includes all the visible chats, emotes, and RP profiles.
Be a great parent and use those tools to turn off chat! Then teach them how to protect themselves as they get older and able to understand safety and privacy lessons.