A bipartisan pair of senators launched an investigation this week into the gaming platform Roblox, citing concerns about explicit content and its alleged “connection to real world child abuse.”

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a letter Wednesday informing Roblox CEO David Baszucki that the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism opened a child safety investigation into the company.

“You trumpet Roblox as a safe digital playground for children as young as five,” the senators wrote. “But the public record raises serious questions about this promise of safety.”

Roblox has recently faced scrutiny over its safety practices for kids, including the company’s age verification methods and content moderation. Multiple states have sued the company, alleging a lack of sufficient oversight on the platform exposes children to abusive or sexual content.

The lawmakers pointed to reports alleging predators used the platform to reach minors and commit acts of violence — including grooming, kidnapping and rape, or the sharing of sexually explicit material.

“Roblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children and the alleged criminal activity on Roblox warrants congressional scrutiny,” Hawley and Durbin wrote.

The lawmakers told Roblox to preserve its records and listed more than a dozen document requests from the company.

Matt Kaufman, chief safety officer for Roblox, told The Hill in a statement Friday that the platform is “built on the foundation of safety.”

“We do not compromise on that commitment. We look forward to sharing the facts about how we work to protect children on the platform,” Kaufman added.

Earlier this year, Roblox implemented several changes to boost protections for its child users, including the rollout of new age verification methods using age estimation technology and government-issued IDs.

The platform also bans image and video sharing in chats and uses various filters to block the exchange of personal information. It also formed teams and added automated tools to remove harmful content.

In the face of several lawsuits, Roblox settled with a handful of states — including Alabama, Nevada, West Virginia and South Dakota — which sparked some of these changes.

Hawley and Durbin are vocal child safety advocates in the upper chamber. The pair reintroduced the STOP CSAM Act last year, which would allow victims of child sexual exploitation to sue companies that promoted or hosted child sexual abuse material. The bill passed out of committee in June 2025.