Louisiana sues Roblox over child safety concerns: 'It's basically open season for sex predators on this platform'

The state of Louisiana is suing Roblox Corporation over allegations that it facilitates the distribution of child sexual abuse material and "the sexual exploitation of Louisiana's children" through the Roblox videogame. Roblox has denied the allegations, saying in a statement provided to PC Gamer that "the assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue."

Announcing the lawsuit in a press release, Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill said the lack of safety protocols in Roblox "endangers the safety of the children of Louisiana."

"Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue, and profits over child safety," Murrill said. "Every parent should be aware of the clear and present danger posed to their children by Roblox so they can prevent the unthinkable from ever happening in their own home."

While Roblox requires that children have parental permission to create an account, the lawsuit claims that there's nothing in place to ensure that actually happens. "Indeed, Defendant does nothing to confirm or document that parental permission has been given, no matter how young a child is," the lawsuit says. "Nor does Defendant require a parent to confirm the age given when a child signs up to use Roblox.

"Defendant has access to biometric age verification software that requires the user to take a photo of a government issued ID along with a real time selfie photo that is then verified through artificial intelligence. However, while Defendant utilizes this software for other purposes, Defendant intentionally does not utilize this feature when new accounts are created."

That means children potentially have access to "experiences" like Escape to Epstein Island, Diddy Party, and Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe, all of which were cited in the lawsuit as examples of "highly inappropriate" content accessible on Roblox.

"These games and others are often filled with sexually explicit material and simulated sexual activity such as child gang rape. A recent report even revealed a group of 3,334 members openly traded child pornography and solicited sexual acts from minors," the Louisiana announcement says, citing a 2024 Hindenburg Research report that described Roblox as a "pedophile hellscape."

In a response to the Louisiana lawsuit posted on its website, Roblox claimed to have implemented more than 40 new features in the game "to protect its youngest users and empower parents and caregivers," and said it "has taken an industry leading stance on age-based communication and recently introduced new age estimation technology to help confirm a user’s age through a simple, quick selfie-video." It also emphasized its ongoing relationships with law enforcement agencies, mental health organizations, parental advocacy groups, and others "to create resources for parents and to keep users safe on the platform."

"We dedicate vast resources to supporting a safe infrastructure including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior—not only because it's important to us but because it is such a critical issue and so important to our community," the Roblox spokesperson told PC Gamer. "We dispute these allegations and we remain committed to working with Attorney General Murrill to keep kids safe.

"While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards—such as restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing—to help protect our community. Unfortunately, bad actors will try to circumvent our systems to try to direct users off the platform, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ. We continuously work to block those efforts and to enhance our moderation approaches to promote a safe and enjoyable environment for all users."

The announcement of the Louisiana lawsuit comes the day after Roblox shared its reasoning for cracking down on "vigilantes" who track and expose predators on the platform. Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman said the behavior of these individuals and groups has "evolved" from reporting safety concerns to "impersonating children and actively [seeking] to connect with adult users," thwarting Roblox's own safety systems and violating its terms of use.

The Louisiana lawsuit is seeking various injunctions against Roblox, including "representing that Roblox has adequate safety features," as well as civil penalties, damages, restitution, legal fees, and whatever else the court deems fit.