Roblox reported over 13,000 incidents to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2023
Roblox reported over 13,000 incidents of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2023, with around 24 predators arrested for grooming and abusing victims on the hugely popular social game platform in the US.
That's up from 3000 the year before.
Roblox serves around 77 million players every day, 40% of which are under the age of 13. And as it's available on PlayStation, PC, and a host of mobile devices, it's extraordinarily accessible for children, too.
According to Bloomberg, however, despite responding to 1300 requests from law enforcement for details on predatory players, several prolific abusers were allegedly able to evade detection on the platform, including Arnold "DoctorRofatnik" Castillo, who ran the phenomenally successful Sonic Eclipse Online.
It was only after sending an Uber to pick up a fifteen-year-old girl 700 miles away, Castillo was eventually caught and sentenced to 15 years in prison for grooming and sexual abuse.
Roblox says it has spent "almost two decades making the platform one of the safest online environments for our users, particularly the youngest users", and said in a statement to our sister site Eurogamer that Bloomberg's report contained "glaring mischaracterisations about how [it] protects users of all ages" and "fails to reflect both the complexities of online child safety and the realities of the overwhelmingly positive experiences that tens of millions of people of all ages have on Roblox every day."
"As our platform evolves and scales, forging a new future for communication and connection, our investment in preventative safety measures remains fundamental," said Roblox's chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, in a lengthy response to Bloomberg's findings.
"To be the best in the world at delivering safe and civil online experiences, this is essential. With each passing year, we implement new strategies and technology to achieve gains in speed and effectiveness of our safety and moderation systems.
Kaufma
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