Roblox and Discord Sued Over Girl’s Sexual Exploitation
Roblox Corp. and Discord Inc. are the latest targets in a wave of lawsuits over social media addiction, in a case alleging an 11-year-old girl was exploited by a sexual predator while playing online video games.
The girl became acquainted with adult men through Roblox and Discord's direct messaging services, which she thought had safeguards protecting her, according to a statement by her lawyers at the Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center who have brought numerous other addiction cases.
Wednesday's complaint in state court in San Francisco also blames Snap Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. for the girl's mental-health difficulties and suicide attempts.
“These men sexually and financially exploited her,” the group said. “They also introduced her to the social media platforms Instagram and Snapchat, to which she became addicted.”
Meta declined to comment on the suit. Roblox, Discord and Snap didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meta and Snap have previously said they're working to protect their youngest users, including by offering resources on mental health topics and improving safeguards to stop the spread of harmful content.
More than 80 lawsuits have been filed this year against Meta, Snap, ByteDance Inc.'s TikTok, and Alphabet Inc.'s Google centering on claims from adolescents and young adults that they've suffered anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and sleeplessness after getting hooked on social media. In at least seven cases, the plaintiffs are the parents of children who've died by suicide.
Discord is a gaming chat app that has 150 million monthly active users. Popular with young people, Discord was known as a sort of wild-west space online. The company beefed up its moderation efforts over the
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