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Louisiana’s Attorney General is suing Roblox, claiming the company has done too little to stop child sex predators from targeting underage users.
“Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue, and profits over child safety,” says Attorney General Liz Murrill.
The lawsuit alleges that Roblox, which currently has 111.8 million daily active users, has failed to implement safety measures to protect underage users, which make up over 56% of the game’s user base, according to Murrill’s office. Louisiana also accuses Roblox of deliberately turning a blind eye to the malicious activities.
“These games [on Roblox] and others are often filled with sexually explicit material and simulated sexual activity such as child gang rape,” Murill added. “A recent report even revealed a group of 3,334 members openly traded child pornography and solicited sexual acts from minors.”
While executing a search warrant, police in Louisiana discovered one person suspected of possessing child sexual abuse material also using Roblox. “Notably, the individual was in possession of and had employed voice-altering technology designed to mimic the voice of a young female, allegedly for the purpose of luring and sexually exploiting minor users of the platform,” the lawsuit says.
Safety concerns have plagued Roblox for years. But in recent days, the scrutiny has reached new heights after a popular YouTuber known as Schlep revealed that Roblox sent him a cease-and-desist order following his efforts to expose child sex predators on the platform. The company also closed his accounts, sparking concerns of a coverup.
“I am peeling [back] the curtain of what is really going on, and I am definitely upsetting some of the people at Roblox," Schlep told us.
Louisiana’s lawsuit will try to force Roblox to institute stronger safety measures and require the company to pay damages.
Roblox is pushing back. “The assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue,” the company tells PCMag.
“We dedicate vast resources to supporting a safe infrastructure including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior—not only because it's important to us but because it is such a critical issue and so important to our community,” Roblox adds. “We dispute these allegations and we remain committed to working with Attorney General Murrill to keep kids safe.”
On Wednesday, the company also published a blog post, justifying its decision to boot Schlep and other “vigilantes” from the Roblox platform. “Instead of just reporting on safety issues, vigilantes started impersonating children and actively sought to connect with adult users. Those conversations mimicked inappropriate behavior and actively encouraged other users to connect on other social media and messaging platforms—thus bypassing Roblox’s own safety systems,” the company said.
"These were not one-off situations and we saw the behavior accelerating across many accounts. This activity created an unsafe environment and normalized behavior that is both unacceptable on Roblox and is against our Terms of Use," Roblox added.
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