Families around the United States have filed an ongoing number of lawsuits against the online gaming platform Roblox for allowing the sexual exploitation of children.
Roblox has been receiving a lot of criticism for a lack of safety regulations, with YouTubers Schlep and Law by Mike posting a video threatening to sue Roblox.
In addition, in 2024, Roblox was included in the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s (NCOSE) Dirty Dozen List. This list calls out companies that profit from allowing sexual abuse.
One of the lawsuits receiving internet attention has been about a 15-year-old boy, Ethan Dallas, who committed suicide after being groomed by a predator on Roblox.
Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill filed another popular lawsuit. In a statement published in August, Roblox responded to this lawsuit, stating that, “Any assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is simply untrue.”
Roblox also stated that they have implemented over 40 new safety features in the past year. These features include parental controls, an artificial intelligence (AI) detection system, and a human safety team.
However, people are not satisfied with the current safety measures. NCOSE is encouraging Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. The act will force platforms like Roblox to take responsibility for how they contribute to the harm of minors.
Insight from Roblox gamers
Christopher Lorilla is an eighth grader at Sandpiper Middle School. He frequently plays Roblox with his friends and enjoys playing sports games on the platform. However, he’s experienced his share of weird interactions with other players.
“I’ve heard some pretty weird things over voice chat, like people making sort of sexual innuendos,” Lorilla said. “I think it’s safer to talk through regular chat versus interacting through voice chat, but people have still said weird things to me over chat, so I think Roblox needs to implement new chat features.”
While Roblox requires users to be over 13 years old to use voice chat, many users lie about their age.
“I’ve encountered a lot of people sounding under the age of 10,” Lorilla said.
Dakota Chang, a junior at Carlmont, also enjoyed playing Roblox. She used to play for at least 30 minutes daily, but now she only plays on weekends. She enjoys games like Dragon Adventures and Grow a Garden.
Both Lorilla and Chang heard about the Roblox lawsuits from social media. Both agree with the people suing the company.
“I believe that the lawsuits against Roblox will force the company to recognize the importance of improving its safety regulations and ensuring the platform’s genuine safety for young users,” Chang said.
Lorilla, however, is skeptical about the lawsuits’ effectiveness.
“I don’t think the lawsuits are going to work because Roblox has really good lawyers, but there might be a chance,” Lorilla said.
Lorilla thinks Roblox should implement new safety features, such as increased human monitoring. However, Chang believes these improvements are easier said than done.
“While I strongly support the need for improvements in Roblox’s safety regulations, I also recognize the challenges in implementing a system as complex as this one, especially since the community is unpredictable. There will always be ways for individuals to circumvent such systems,” Chang said.
Lorilla believes that improved safety features will not hinder but enhance the player experience.
“I think it will be even more fun to play because I don’t have to worry about meeting weird actors or bad actors on the platform. And I think it’ll be a better experience for me because I know I’m safe,” Lorilla said.
Parent perspectives
In light of these recent lawsuits against Roblox, some parents have been concerned about the safety of their children. They hear about it from news articles, their children, or other adults.
Neil Gonzales is a parent of two children. His younger daughter, a seventh grader at Ralston, enjoys playing Roblox in her free time.
“It’s not just with Roblox, but also with other video games like Fortnite and Discord. As a parent, that would concern me,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales agrees with the families suing Roblox in an effort to increase the platform’s safety regulations and to gain appropriate compensation.
“I don’t know if lawsuits are the best way, but if families don’t complain or don’t file lawsuits, then the companies can do whatever they want, or they might not even know these cases are going on,” Gonzales said.
Contrastingly, Yelena Orduyan, a parent of an 11-year-old son, doesn’t think Roblox should be held accountable to its current level.
“No, I don’t completely agree. I think it’s not a straightforward case of Roblox being the main cause of danger. There are usually several factors involved, such as a child’s mental state, parenting, environment, and sometimes even kids or lawyers trying to make a profit or gain attention,” Orduyan said. “The problem also lies in society. Unfortunately, there will always be some people who prey on children. It’s not fair, but it’s a reality.”
Instead, Orduyan suggests that people focus on educating children about online dangers.
“I am glad that our society is now acknowledging this issue. The next step is to focus on eliminating its root causes and educating children. Hopefully, this will lead to fewer criminal acts and a decrease in mental illness,” Orduyan said.
Gonzales said he has done his part as a parent to keep them safe.
“We talk to them about being careful who they chat with, and just make sure that it’s their friends that they’re playing with,” Gonzales said. Other parents utilize Roblox’s current parental controls and monitor their children when they play.
Gonzales will continue to allow his children to play Roblox, but he hopes that Roblox will improve its safety features.
“I think these cases are serious and should definitely be treated as a serious thing. It just reminds us that these video games, like anything, can be abused,” Gonzales said.
