Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit against Roblox for “flagrantly ignoring state and federal online safety laws…”
AUSTIN, Texas — The State of Texas is taking popular video game Roblox to court.
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that the state has sued the Roblox Corporation “for flagrantly ignoring state and federal online safety laws while deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform.”
The lawsuit alleges that Roblox has not taken the proper precautions to protect minors on its platform. The gaming platform has been at the center of several lawsuits claiming that adults posing as minors have exposed children to sexually explicit content or, in some cases, sexually abused underage users.
Roblox is a free-to-play online platform that hosts millions of user-created games. Players can use custom avatars, interact with other players within those games, and explore different game modes. The platform logs tens of millions of daily active users, many of whom are children and teens.
Since its 2006 release, the San Mateo, California-based company has grown into a $71.76 billion business. In Q3 alone, Roblox Corporation reported $1.35 billion in revenue.
“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,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Roblox must do more to protect kids from sick and twisted freaks hiding behind a screen.”
Paxton’s filing follows a slew of other lawsuits against the company nationwide, alleging the platform was negligent in allowing grooming and sexual abuse, including several from Texas.
In May, a family in Galveston County filed a lawsuit against Roblox and the online voice call platform Discord after a girl was sexually assaulted by someone she met on the platforms.
In October, a former Marine filed a lawsuit in Dallas federal court against Roblox, stating that when he was 11 years old in 2007, a man posing as a minor on the platform coerced him into meeting in person, leading to sexual abuse.
The company has stated that it uses filters, human moderators, and parental controls to protect minors playing the game, but at least one lawsuit has called those assurances”knowingly and recklessly false.”