Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced legal action against Roblox, the #1 gaming site for children and teens.
The lawsuit, brought in the 21th Judicial District of Louisiana, shows that through its online gaming service, Roblox:
- Has and continues to facilitate the distribution of child sexual abuse material and the sexual exploitation of Louisiana’s children.
- Knowingly and intentionally fails to implement basic safety controls to protect child users from predators.
- Knowingly and intentionally fails to provide notice to parents and child users of its dangers.
“Due to Roblox’s lack of safety protocols, it endangers the safety of the children of Louisiana. Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue, and profits over child safety. Every parent should be aware of the clear and present danger poised to their children by Roblox so they can prevent the unthinkable from ever happening in their own home,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill.
Roblox is an interactive online gaming platform launched in 2006 that facilitates “experiences” for users. It allows andencourages users to communicate with each other in real time.
There are nearly 82 million daily active users and more than 6.4 million experiences within the system.
The company reports:
- 20% of users are under 9 years of age
- 20% are 9-12
- 16% are 13-16
- 44% are 17 years of age or older
Because there is no age minimum and requirement to verify age or parental permission once you sign-up, users can easily say they are younger or older than their actual age – allowing child predators to pose as children and for children to bypass any age requirement.
Once registered, users have access to millions of games such as sports, role-playing, naval, fashion, and comedy. Other games which have existed on the platform including Escape to Epstein Island, Diddy Party, and Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe are not as innocent. These games and others are often filled with sexually explicit material and simulated sexual activity such as child gang rape.
