Los Angeles County Files Child Safety Suit Against Roblox

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Los Angeles County is suing Roblox, claiming the platform exposes children to harmful content and puts their safety at risk. The county filed a lawsuit on February 19th, alleging that children in the area have been repeatedly exposed to sexually explicit material, grooming, and exploitation on Roblox, and that the company prioritized profits over protecting kids.

County attorneys are arguing that despite Roblox advertising itself as a safe place for kids to play, the way the platform is designed allows adults and children to interact with very little supervision. They claim the platform actually makes it easy for adults to pretend to be children and target minors.

According to a legal filing by Los Angeles County officials, Roblox claims to offer a safe environment for children. However, the county argues that Roblox is aware its platform design actually makes children vulnerable to sexual predators.

According to the lawsuit, despite its kid-friendly appearance, Roblox creates a dangerous environment where predators can easily find and communicate with children. The platform also allows access to inappropriate and sexually suggestive content, leaving young users vulnerable to risks they aren’t equipped to handle.

Los Angeles County claims Roblox didn’t put enough safety measures in place to protect its users. Specifically, they say Roblox should have verified users’ ages, limited who could communicate with whom by default, and provided better ways to report problems. The county describes these safeguards as simple, necessary, and long delayed.

The lawsuit, which was submitted on Thursday, aims to fine the company up to $2,500 for each instance of violating California’s laws against unfair competition and false advertising. It also requests that the company cover the county’s legal fees.

The county reports it’s been forced to spend more money and shift resources to deal with a growing number of cases involving child sexual exploitation, trafficking, abuse, and mental health issues. The lawsuit claims that by increasing the costs of things like police work, child protection, support for victims, and mental health care, Roblox has taken money away from other important public programs and services that rely on taxpayer funding.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis stated that the lawsuit aims to safeguard children from online dangers like predators and harmful content. She believes Roblox has a duty to protect young users, but instead, the platform has become a place where children are vulnerable to exploitation and grooming.

According to county lawyer Dawyn R. Harrison, this case isn’t simply about a small safety oversight. It’s about a company providing dangerous tools that allow predators to harm children. The resulting trauma – including manipulation, exploitation, and abuse – is devastating, and must be prevented.

Roblox denies the accusations and plans to fight the lawsuit. The company released a statement saying it firmly disagrees with the claims made and will strongly defend itself in court.

A Roblox representative stated that the platform is designed with safety as a top priority, and they are constantly working to improve and reinforce those safety measures.

The company says it has strong monitoring systems to oversee what people post and share on its platform. To help prevent abuse, it also doesn’t allow users to send photos or videos through chats – a feature they say is often exploited on other websites.

Roblox says they quickly address any violations of their safety guidelines and cooperate with police investigations to ensure those who break the rules are held responsible.

Protecting children is an ongoing effort, and while we can’t create a flawless system, we’re always dedicated to keeping them safe, according to the company.

Starting in January, Roblox began requiring users to verify their age using a facial scan to unlock chat features. Roblox groups people in chat based on their age, and parents have controls to manage their child’s experience, including the ability to allow or disable chat, block certain players or games, and limit how long their child spends on the platform. Sharing images and videos in chat is also prohibited.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles is similar to one brought in Louisiana last August, where Roblox was accused of creating a dangerous online environment that allowed predators to target and harm children. Louisiana’s Attorney General, Liz Murrill, claimed the platform lacked adequate safety measures, making it appealing to those who exploit children. Roblox has denied these accusations and stated it will cooperate with authorities to ensure child safety.

Last October, Florida sent legal demands to Roblox, accusing the gaming platform of being a place where predators could easily target children.

A lawsuit filed last year details how a California teenager was allegedly manipulated into sharing explicit images through the online platforms Roblox and Discord. According to the mother’s lawyers, an adult posing as a child on Roblox initiated contact with the boy and steered the conversation toward sexual topics. The man then allegedly moved the conversation to Discord, where he demanded explicit content and threatened to share it publicly. Tragically, the boy died by suicide in April 2024, and the lawsuit followed. Both Roblox and Discord have declined to comment on the ongoing case, which is still being reviewed by the courts.

Earlier this year, Hindenburg Research published a report claiming Roblox was unsafe for children, alleging it contained content that exposed them to grooming and pornography. Following this, the Australian government recently announced it’s requesting an immediate meeting with Roblox to discuss child safety concerns.

Roblox CEO David Baszucki faced backlash for suggesting the potential addition of betting features to the platform, explaining they might be used as a learning tool.

Roblox, which started in 2006, is a popular platform with over 144 million people playing every day. A large portion of these players are young – more than 40% are under 13 years old. Users have spent over 35 billion hours on the platform creating, playing, and sharing games and experiences, all while customizing their own avatars. Although Roblox is free to use, players can buy virtual money to enhance their gameplay.

Roblox announced strong financial results for the last three months of the year, with revenue reaching $4.9 billion – a 36% increase compared to the same period last year. For the entire year, the company generated $1.8 billion in cash from its operations. Roblox credits this growth to an increase in users, adding approximately 60 million daily active users between the last three months of 2024 and 2025.

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2026-02-24 09:17