Parents sue Roblox for allegedly hosting child grooming, sexual content
Content note: This story contains discussions of children being propositioned for sexual actions and receiving sexual messages.
Multiple families have filed a class action lawsuit against Roblox Corp., alleging the Roblox game (among other things) contains sexual content harmful to young players. That suit was first filed in August and recently amended in October in the San Diego Superior Court.
The suit claims children using the popular platform encountered player avatars that were nude or doing in-game actions mimicking sexual intercourse. These plaintiffs recalled instances of their kids (ages ranging from seven to 12 years old) getting messages from other players asking to perform sexual acts or linking to pornography sites.
Social platforms like Roblox and Discord have previously come under fire for not having proper ways to protect younger players from online exploitation. Notably, this is the second class action suit for Roblox Corp after allegations of child gambling from this past August.
"Roblox advertises its product as ‘family friendly’ despite rampant inappropriate and predatory conduct," reads the complaint. "Roblox tells parents: “If your child is under 13, we make it extremely difficult for strangers on Roblox to contact them.” That is untrue."
Safeguards meant to protect younger Roblox players are turned off by default, the complaint continues, and the material encountered on the platform can be "far more harmful" than what's seen on TikTok. Both platforms rose in prominence for all users (particularly young ones) in recent years.
"[Roblox's] popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic, when parents were desperately seeking social interaction for their children," noted Walsh Law founder Alexandra Walsh.
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