Roblox Faces New Lawsuit and Regulatory Scrutiny Over Child Safety

The increasingly popular online gaming platform Roblox is under mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny as more lawsuits continue to emerge in which it is being accused of not taking appropriate action to ensure child users are not exposed to predators. The most recent move is by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill who filed a suit against the company alleging that the online platform is enabling predators to flourish, meet and prey on children.

This suit is among a surge of legal actions against Roblox, where such civil sexual abuse cases have been brought in states such as California, Florida, and Texas. The grievances allege that Roblox does not verify the age of users, and adults can easily pretend to be kids, and predators can use the virtual currency, Robux, to exploit underage users. In one case, a predator claimed to groom a 10-year-old girl to send explicit photos using Robux.

To further intensify the legal pressure, YouTuber and lawyer Law By Mike declared in a video called We’re Suing Roblox that he is collaborating with the legal team of a content creator named Schlep to sue the company. The video accuses police of arresting dozens of people since 2018 on the claim that they were using Roblox to target children. It is also alleged in the video that the moderation policies of Roblox are dangerously weak and that the company has turned a blind eye to the fact that its platform is being used to commit predatory acts, despite the company officially reporting over 13,000 cases this alone.

Roblox has acted to improve its safety protocols as a reaction to the growing controversy. Early in September, the company launched a new age estimation feature, which uses machine learning to group users by age. This aspect, together with the introduction of the new direct messaging controls, is the part of the work of Roblox to overcome the safety issue and make the platform a safer place where its younger audience can enjoy it.

In spite of these attempts, critics claim that these actions of Roblox are not enough and the company took care of its growth and profit long before the security of the most vulnerable users. The judicial processes and public outcry are examples of the ongoing controversy on whether a tech corporation has the role to defend children on the internet or not. The results of such suing cases are supposed to provide historic precedents into how online platforms will be responsible in keeping children safe in future.

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