LA County files lawsuit against Roblox over child safety concerns
Los Angeles County has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging the online gaming platform fails to adequately protect children from online predators, a Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
According to the complaint, the platform’s virtual environment has become a “breeding ground” for predatory behavior and exposes minors to explicit content and grooming. The county argues that Roblox, which markets heavily to children and has millions of users under the age of 13, lacks effective moderation and age-verification systems.
Prosecutors claim that children in Los Angeles County have been “repeatedly exposed” to inappropriate content and that adults can allegedly pose as minors to interact with young users.
“I can sign up, say I’m 12 years old, create an avatar for myself, and start playing the game, and start interacting with 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 12-year-olds,” said Scott Kuhn, assistant county counsel.
The county cited a recent case involving a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly befriended by an adult posing as a teenager. According to the complaint, the individual later persuaded the child to move to another platform, where she was manipulated into sending explicit images and videos.
“We are seeking to have Roblox change the way it does business to protect children and not to put profits over the price of children’s protection,” Kuhn said. He added that the county is calling for stronger age-verification measures, including ID-based checks, as well as independent monitoring of user-created content.
In a statement, Roblox said it “strongly disputes the claims in this lawsuit and will defend against it vigorously.” The company stated that it has safeguards in place to monitor harmful content and communications and noted that users cannot send or receive images through chat on the platform.
Roblox also said that as of January, it requires users to complete a Face ID age check to access certain chat features and sorts players into age-based groups.
In turn, county officials encouraged parents to monitor their children’s online activity and report any concerns to the platform.
As reported earlier, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets also launched an investigation into online gaming platform Roblox over potential risks faced by minors.
