Texas AG Sues Roblox Over Child Safety Concerns

Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the gaming platform Roblox, alleging that it ignored federal and state safety laws while deceiving parents of the potential dangers of the platform.

Roblox is known for its immersive gaming platform, where users can develop their own games and communicate using avatars. About 40% of its 151.5 million users are children under the age of 13, according to Roblox’s quarterly report.

Despite being marketed toward kids, Paxton described the platform as “overrun by predators and saturated with sexual content.” The lawsuit alleges that the gaming platform exploited, groomed and exposed children to sexually explicit content.

Roblox recently has been under fire and flooded with litigation over failing to provide safeguard for minors on the gaming platform. Paxton alleges that “Roblox chose to put pixel pedophiles and corporate profit over the safety of Texas children.

“We cannot allow platforms like Roblox to continue operating as digital playgrounds for predators where the well-being of our kids is sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed,” Paxton said in a statement.

Hearst Newspapers has reported about Texas lawsuits against Roblox — like a Marine Corps veteran from Ellis County who was groomed on the platform and eventually molested by an adult predator pretending to be a child. He was only 11 at the time, the court documents said.

There was also a Galveston County mother who filed a lawsuit over a similar situation that unfolded with her 10-year-old daughter, Hearst reported.

Texas is the third state to sue the California-based company, following the actions of attorney generals in Kentucky and Louisiana.

In a statement, Roblox Corp. said, “We share Attorney General Paxton’s commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online. We are disappointed that, rather than working collaboratively with Roblox on this industry-wide challenge and seeking real solutions, the AG has chosen to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations and sensationalized claims.”

The lawsuit is similar to Paxton’s legal action against TikTok, which alleged Texas children were having their data illegally shared and sold by the ByteDance-owned app.