By Blessing Nweke
Nebraska filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Roblox of exploiting children and misrepresenting the safety of its gaming platform, the latest in a growing wave of legal challenges against the popular online game company.
The complaint, filed by Mike Hilgers in Adams District Court, alleges that Roblox allows minors to come into direct contact with adult predators and exposes young users to sexually explicit, violent and otherwise age-inappropriate content. Nebraska joins several other states that have taken legal action against the company, including Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, Iowa and Tennessee.
According to the lawsuit, predators have repeatedly used Roblox to groom children online before abducting or sexually assaulting them. The complaint claims the company knowingly built a massive platform targeting pre-teen users despite longstanding concerns about safety risks.
Since launching in 2006, Roblox has grown into one of the largest online gaming ecosystems, featuring millions of user-created virtual experiences and real-time messaging features. The company says it has more than 151 million daily active users and describes itself as the largest dedicated gaming platform for users aged 13 and under.
Roblox rejected the allegations, saying the lawsuit misrepresents its safety practices. Matt Kaufman, the company’s chief safety officer, said the platform is designed with strong protections and continues to improve safeguards for younger users.
Roblox said it prohibits image and video sharing between users, uses strict filters to prevent personal information sharing and enforces age-based chat settings that limit communication for younger players. The company also introduced facial age verification this year through identity verification firm Persona and expanded parental control features in 2024.
Despite those measures, Nebraska’s complaint argues the safeguards are insufficient and that parents still lack visibility into who their children communicate with on the platform.
Roblox also faces more than 130 consolidated lawsuits in federal court in California alleging children were groomed by predators through the platform, in some cases leading to sexual assault or suicide. The cases could test the legal protections tech companies receive under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Original article
Comments