Blog

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced legal action against Roblox, the #1 gaming site for children and teens.

The lawsuit, brought in the 21^th 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.

Read more here.

Register Here to find out about new precedent set for Section 230 and Online Child Protection 

Children are increasingly taking breaks from their smartphones to better manage their mental health, personal safety and concentration spans, research has revealed.

They are reacting to growing concerns that spending too much time online can be harmful by taking control of their own social media and smartphone use rather than relying on parents to enforce limits, according to experts.

The number of 12- to 15-year-olds who take breaks from smartphones, computers and iPads rose by 18% to 40% since 2022, according to the audience research company GWI, drawing on a survey of 20,000 young people and their parents across 18 countries.

Read more here. 

WARNING. GRAPHIC CONTENT.

A Virginia youth pastor posed as a teenager to groom underage girls on social media apps – exchanging appalling messages while luring them into sex chats.

The 34-year-old, known to his church as ‘Pastor Jake’ is now behind bars, accused of posing as a boy to coax sexually explicit photos and videos from the girls.

At one point the perv pastor told an underage girl that it was ‘time for her to see her first d***.’

Jacob Ryan Barnett, Associate Pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, was arrested on Wednesday in North Carolinafollowing a months-long FBI investigation that uncovered a disturbing digital trail of exploitation and manipulation.

According to a federal affidavit, Barnett used TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord to pose as a 17-year-old named ‘Jodie Johnson,’ messaging teen girls across the country and pressuring them into sending him explicit material.

The videos included footage they had recorded of themselves at the ages of 14 and 15.

One of the victims, identified in court documents as ‘M.V.,’ told investigators she believed she really was communicating with a teenage boy from Virginia.

But in reality, the number belonged to Barnett – a father, a pastor, and a man who just 11 days ago delivered a sermon titled ‘The Story of Salvation.’

‘While the charges against Mr. Barnett are just allegations at this point, the facts presented do serve as a reminder for all parents to be aware of what their children are doing online,’ said U.S. Attorney C. Todd Gilbert.

Read more here. 

Discover how teens get trapped.