Roblox faces class-action suit from parents about sexual content and grooming: 'it is illegal to expose minors to these kinds of things [and] it's not slowing down'

pcgamer.com:

Roblox's awesome growth in recent years has been long in the making, but such scale has brought a new level of scrutiny to what may now be the biggest single gaming experience in the world. There are all sorts of criticism faced by the platform, but the most serious by far relates to its overwhelmingly young audience (a February 2022 SEC filing says over 60 percent of Roblox users are under the age of 16, 55% 12 or under), and whether it does enough to protect them from bad actors and the type of content children should not be seeing. Many parents don't think it does enough. And not for the first time, some are taking action.

The Roblox Corporation is facing a class-action lawsuit in California brought by parents who accuse the company of «intentional and negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and State Consumer Protection Acts» (press release hosted on BusinessWire).

«There’s a misperception that Roblox is safe–the brand has a bit of a halo around it due to the company falsely advertising itself that way to parents,» says Alexandra Walsh of Walsh Law, the firm representing the parents. «Parents who would never let their kids use TikTok don’t think twice about letting them on Roblox, even though what they encounter on Roblox can be far more harmful… Roblox has overstayed its welcome in spaces designed for kids.»

But it is the specifics of the complaints themselves that may raise a few eyebrows, not only with regards to Roblox itself and the experiences recounted, but in terms of the sheer amounts of money some of these parents spend on their kids' pastime. Roblox of course only allows purchases through its own