Texas Runs After Roblox for Being 'Breeding Ground for Predators'

Roblox faces another legal problem after the state of Texas sued the online video gaming platform for the danger it could bring to its young users.

Ken Paxton, the Attorney General for Texas, announced that he filed a lawsuit against the gaming giant for 'flagrantly ignoring' users' safety laws and 'deceiving parents.'

In a statement posted on X (formerly called Twitter), Paxton stated that the video gaming platform is 'putting pixel pedophiles and profits over the safety of Texas children.'

He also wrote that Roblox advertised itself as a 'safe digital space of creativity, but in reality it has become a breeding ground for predators.'

'We cannot allow platforms like Roblox to continue operating as digital playgrounds for predators where the well-being of our kids is sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed,' he continued.

Roblox reportedly has approximately 151.5 million active users worldwide with around 40 billion hours of engagement between each user.

States vs Roblox

The state of Texas is the latest in the US that launched a legal battle against the online gaming platform.

On 22 October 2022, a parent filed a lawsuit at the San Francisco Superior Court because the game allegedly connected their daughter with online predators who exploited her sexually by forcing her to send explicit content on Snapchat and Discord.

Bloomberg News also reported that Roblox was being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for undisclosed reasons.

The states of Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky filed their own lawsuits against the San Mateo, California-based video game developer for child safety reasons.

Roblox's Response

The gaming platform issued a reply to the lawsuit filed by Paxton. As reported by The Economic Times, the company is strongly committed to the safety of its child users.

'We share Attorney General Paxton's commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online, which is why we have implemented industry-leading protocols in an effort to protect users and remove bad actors. We are disappointed that, rather than working collaboratively with Roblox on this industry-wide challenge and seeking real solutions, the AG has chosen to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations and sensationalized claims,' the company said in a statement sent to Fox 7 Austin.

'Our policies are purposefully stricter than those found on many other platforms. We prohibit the sharing of images and videos in chat, use filters designed to block the exchange of personal information and our trained teams and automated tools continuously monitor communications to detect and remove harmful content,' the statement added.

The game developer also claimed that they invest in creating advanced safety systems to set the bar high in online safety.

'We have introduced over 145 safety measures on the platform this year alone, and as a first for the industry, we recently announced that we are working to implement age estimation for all users accessing chat features soon, which will help prevent adults from chatting with minors,' Roblox also said.

Some of the safety measures that Roblox incorporated into its games include Age verification/estimation technology, Parental controls and open-source AI detection system.

The company also mentioned that they are willing to work closely with law enforcement, mental health institutions, and government agencies for the safety of their users.