The state of Louisiana is suing Roblox, with the lawsuit alleging the company is turning a blind eye to ongoing child sex abuse on the platform.
CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses child sex abuse.
The popular video game Roblox has been under scrutiny this past week, as the game‘s reputation for potentially endangering children gains mainstream attention. Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill has announced that they’ll be suing the video game Roblox, claiming the company isn’t doing enough to protect underage users from child sex predators.
The lawsuit alleges that Roblox, which currently has 111.8 million daily active users, 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.”
The lawsuit would then cite an example where, when executing a search warrant, Louisiana police discovered one person suspected of possessing child sexual abuse material, potentially using Roblox to lure and exploit minors on the platform. “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.
The online video game has been facing scrutiny recently after popular YouTuber Schlep revealed that Roblox sent him a cease-and-desist order following his efforts to expose child sex predators in the game. The company also banned Schlep’s Roblox accounts afterwards and prohibited him from making new ones. The company claims that Schlep was engaging in “unauthorised and harmful activities” that violated user privacy.
Roblox would post a lengthy statement on their website outlining why they decided to ban Schlep and other ‘vigilante’ players. In their post, they shared that users were actively impersonating minors to connect with adult users, engaging in inappropriate behaviour, encouraging other users to connect on social media and other messaging platforms. The company asserts this bypasses their safety systems.
“Our policies prohibit directing other users off Roblox to another platform through chat and having/simulating sexually explicit conversations. These are serious policy violations that risk removal from the platform,” the post would read.
Following the ban, a massive social media outcry has followed. Even To Catch A Predator star Chris Hansen has announced he’ll be investigating the platform. US politicians are also beginning to look at the platform and put pressure on the company to do more.
Roblox has pushed back against claims that it’s enabling predatory activity on its platform. The company would share a statement with PCMag, writing:
“The assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue.”
“We dedicate vast resources to supporting a safe infrastructure including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to detect and prevent inappropriate content and behaviour – 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.”
As of the time of writing, it is unclear whether Roblox will be part of the upcoming under-16 social media ban in Australia later this year. Given the government has shared that platforms with the primary purpose of being an online game would be exempt from the ban, it’s possible Roblox won’t be affected.
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