Florida Attorney General Sues Roblox Over Safety Concerns

Florida’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, has initiated legal action against Roblox, an online gaming platform. The lawsuit claims the company violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The allegations focus on Roblox’s inadequate child safety measures that have, reportedly, allowed predators to impersonate children, groom minors, and exploit the game’s currency, Robux, to solicit inappropriate content.

The lawsuit contends that Roblox actively targets young kids while misleading both parents and users about the platform’s safety features, even though there are known risks of exposure to graphic adult content and user-generated games that simulate child exploitation.

This legal move follows Uthmeier’s issuance of criminal subpoenas to Roblox in October as part of an ongoing investigation, which is similar to other lawsuits filed by families across the United States.

According to the Attorney General’s office, Roblox has been “knowingly” enabling sexual predators while misrepresenting the safety of their platform. The civil lawsuit was filed in Baker County Circuit Court.

“Since I took office, we’ve taken several steps to investigate Roblox, including launching the first criminal investigation in the nation,” Uthmeier said in a video statement on social media. “While the criminal investigation continues, we’re using all tools in the toolbox to hold this dangerous platform accountable.”

In October, the Attorney General accused Roblox of neglecting its age verification responsibilities and failing to report grooming incidents where adults tried to entice children with Robux in exchange for child sex abuse materials. Subpoenas were issued to gather further information regarding Roblox’s alleged negligence.

“What we uncovered from our subpoena is unacceptable. Roblox aggressively markets to young children but fails to protect them from sexual predators,” Uthmeier stated. “As a father of three little ones, and as Florida’s attorney general, my top priority is straightforward: to protect our kids.”

As part of the investigation, officials created their own Roblox accounts to test the platform’s age verification, including its facial age estimation feature. They posed as various ages: a 7-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy, a 15-year-old girl, and a 47-year-old male.

Included in the complaint were screenshots showcasing Roblox’s registration process, which revealed a lack of mechanisms to ensure that parental consent was obtained prior to children creating accounts.

“Roblox does nothing to confirm or document that parental permission has been given, regardless of how young the child is. Moreover, there’s no requirement for a parent to verify the age provided by the child when setting up a Roblox account,” the lawsuit claimed. “Roblox could take more measures, but it chooses not to.”

In his video, Uthmeier added, “Roblox has breached the trust of parents, and my office will ensure they are held accountable.”

Florida’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of similar actions against Roblox. Just a few months ago, Louisiana filed its own lawsuit over child endangerment allegations. Additionally, a family from Iowa accused Roblox of allowing a user to groom, kidnap, and abuse their 13-year-old daughter. Kentucky also filed a lawsuit highlighting the platform’s role in facilitating child predators and exposing minors to harmful content.