(Des Moines) Attorney General Brenna Bird announced today she has sued the online gaming company Roblox for failing to take necessary steps to protect Iowa kids from sexual exploitation, facilitating distribution of child sex abuse material, and failing to warn Iowa parents of the ongoing sexual exploitation of children occurring on Roblox.
Roblox is one of the most popular games in the United States. It has over 80 million daily users, many of those are Iowans and most of whom are children under the age of 18. Roblox markets itself as the “#1 gaming site for kids and teens.” As many as two-thirds of U.S. children ages 9 to 12 have Roblox accounts.
Roblox has recently assured parents that their platform is safe for kids, and that they’ve put the proper guardrails in place to protect them. However, evidence suggests otherwise. Roblox has failed to put basic safety controls in place and has intentionally concealed from Iowa parents the dangers their platform presents while allowing child exploitation, pornography, and extortion on its platform for years.
“We will fight for our children. Roblox created a breeding ground for sexual predators, and Iowa’s children are paying the price. Roblox must either make their game a safe place for children or stop doing business in our state. Parents must be told the truth so they can protect their children online from inappropriate material, grooming, exploitation, and other predatory practices.”
Meanwhile, Matt Kaufman, Chief Safety Officer, of Roblox released this statement:
“This lawsuit contains patently false claims about our platform. Roblox is built with safety at its core. We have advanced safeguards that monitor our platform for harmful content and communications. Users cannot send or receive images via chat, eliminating one of the most prevalent opportunities for misuse seen elsewhere online. Safety is a constant and consistent focus of our work, and we are currently rolling out additional measures to further limit who users can chat with. We take swift action against anyone found to violate our safety rules and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations and help hold bad actors accountable.
While no system can be perfect, our commitment to safety never ends. As a dad, I know there is no finish line when it comes to protecting kids, which is why we continue to evolve and strengthen our protections every day. Parents can visit our Safety Center to learn more about our safety work and ways to keep their children safe online: roblox.com/safetycenter.” – Matt Kaufman, Chief Safety Officer, Roblox
Additional information on background:
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The platform has rigorous safety features built in, and our policies are purposely stricter than those found on social networks and other user-generated content platforms.
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We don’t allow image sharing via chat, which is also subject to filters designed to block the sharing of personal information.
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We constantly monitor all communication for critical harms and swiftly remove violative content when detected and work closely with law enforcement.
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Age verification is an industry-wide challenge and Roblox has taken an industry leading stance on age-based communication. We recently announced we’d be rolling out age estimation technology out globally by the end of the year before any user can communicate on Roblox.
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Roblox works closely with law enforcement, government agencies, mental health organizations, and parental advocacy groups to create resources for parents and to keep users safe on the platform.
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For example, we maintain direct communication channels with organizations, such as the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), for immediate escalation of serious threats that we identify.
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