The Roblox reckoning: Lawsuits and the fight over child safety

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By Theresa Raine De Guzman

Is Roblox, a popular online gaming platform primarily aimed for children, the perfect place for predators? Well that’s what Louisiana’s top prosecutor and Attorney General Liz Murill claims.

In a statement Murill had said: “Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritises user growth, revenue and profits over child safety.”

The lawsuit was filed on August 14 and claims that: “For years, Defendant has knowingly enabled and facilitated the systemic sexual exploitation and abuse of children across the United States, including in Louisiana. Through willful disregard and deceptive practices, Defendant has permitted and perpetuated an online environment in which child predators thrive, directly contributing to the widespread victimization of minor children in Louisiana.”

The suit accuses Roblox of failing to implement basic security measures to protect children such as a lack of age verification; enabling users to create accounts with fake birthdays.

This allows adults to pose as kids and kids under 13 to bypass age restrictions.

Furthermore the suit highlighted games on the platform with names like “Escape to Epstein Island’ and “Diddy Party” and alleged a man on the platform had used voice altering technology to mimic the voice of a young girl in order to lure and sexually exploit minors.

This isn’t even the only lawsuit Roblox is facing, the Doleman Law Group is investigating over 300 similar cases against Roblox and since July has filed numerous lawsuits in courts in California, Georgia and Texas.

In an interview Dolman said: “This is just the wild west. It’s like a hunting ground for predators.”

Roblox has rebutted both accusations, claiming that while no system is perfect and that there is always more work to be done, the company is constantly working to better their platform in order to protect its youngest users. The company has said that they are working on 40 new safeguards plus its policies and safety features are stricter than ones found in other social networks and User-Generated Content platforms.

These safety features include:

• Rigorous text chat filters that block inappropriate language and attempts to direct users under 13 off the platform or solicit personal information.
• Users under 13 cannot directly message other users outside of games unless parental controls are adjusted.
• Direct image sharing between users is prohibited.
• Using moderation tools like an AI system named Sentinel.

Roblox even cites that it regularly creates resources to keep minors safe by collaborating with government agencies, parental advocacy groups, mental health organizations and law enforcement.

Now it is also important to point out this isn’t the first time Roblox has caught heat for predators using the platform.

Last year Bloomberg published: “Roblox’s Pedophile Problem” which recalls a big developer on the platform named Doc that regularly made edgy, racist and homophobic jokes including calling young girls sex slaves and sending private messages to a 12 year old about “corrupting her beyond her wildest dreams.”

After the messages were made public Roblox did take Doc off the platform but by then Doc had already garnered thousands of young fans and he claims that the controversy merely tripled his earnings.

Bloomberg also stated that “since 2018 at least two dozen people have been accused of abducting or abusing victims they’d met on Roblox.”

So why is this issue gaining traction a year later? You can thank a youtuber named Schlep for that. Schlep, a Roblox focused youtuber with over 1.4 million subscribers has a popular series of videos where he would expose pedophiles on Roblox and has had 6 pedophiles arrested and removed from the platform.

Schlep was inspired to take action after being groomed on the platform and was unsatisfied with Roblox’s response. As the company only acted after Schlep’s mother threatened legal action and downplayed the abuse as happening on a diferent platform.

Despite the developer who groomed Schlep by sending graphic content, pornopgraphy and engaged in sexual conversations with him was contracted by the company and actively promoted at events and even had official merchandise nationwide.

It was years later that Roblox banned the developer and only when a female developer reported sexual abuse.

And to reward Schlep for taking action against these predators, Roblox banned him from the platform and sent him a cease and desist notice.

The notice claimed that Schlep’s actions were in direct violation of Roblox’s policies and undermined their safety efforts. These actions include:

• Engaging in simulated child endangerment conversations
• Sharing or Soliciting personally identifiable information
• Directing users to move conversations off Platform

The cease and desist goes on to explain that Roblox is already dedicated to combating illegal and harmful content and that it’s partnered with several law enforcement agencies like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or the NCMEC and the FBI.

And while the company understands that Schlep’s intentions were to protect children, his actions such as failing to immediately report suspicious activity to Roblox through proper channels, are actively interfering with established security protocols and are exposing other users to increased risk.

Despite Roblox’s reasoning the internet is firmly on Schlep’s side, with fellow content creators and players all rallying beside him.

(Theresa Raine De Guzman is a Bachelor of Science in Interactive Entertainment and Multimedia Computing [IEMC] student at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde [DLS-CSB], specializing in Game Design and Development.)