“Adding fuel to the fire, despite its promises, Roblox did little to protect children from these horrific situations that it enabled,” the lawsuit alleges. “Most glaringly, the ease of account creation and failure to verify ages or parental consent, no matter how young the self-identified user, permit Roblox to amass as many child users as possible, while also enabling predators to creative deceptive accounts with impunity.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathon Skrmetti has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, claiming that the youth-oriented gaming and communications platform endangers its youngest and most vulnerable users.
In a press release, Skrmetti’s office said that Roblox has long deceived Tennessee residents about the relative safety of its platforms, as well as the steps it has taken to protect children from potential adult predators. Roblox, Skrmetti claims, has a history of choosing profits over practical safety measures.
“Roblox is the digital equivalent of a creepy cargo van lingering at the edge of a playground,” Skrmetti said. “Roblox invites children into a fantastic online world with the promise of creativity and play, but that wonderland is a trap that lets the company sell sophisticated predators access to those vulnerable kids. Roblox worked to reduce oversight and child safety resources despite repeated warnings, because less overhead meant more profit. And the whole time, the company lied and said safety was its top priority.”
The lawsuit details several Roblox “experiences” that are generally accessible to children, ranging from virtual strip clubs and “sex rooms” to locations with names like “Escape to Epstein Island” and “Diddy Party.”
“Beneath the bright animation and cheerful branding lies an environment in which child predators can—and do—make contact with minors, and where sexual content sits within easy reach to children, leaving them to navigate dangers they do not—and cannot—understand,” the lawsuit alleges.
Skrmetti’s office acknowledged that Roblox revised its safety and security measures in 2024, making it more difficult for children and adults to interact. However, as Roblox has few, if any, effective age-verification mechanisms, users can simply lie about their age, pretending to be either much older or much younger.
“Adding fuel to the fire, despite its promises, Roblox did little to protect children from these horrific situations that it enabled,” the lawsuit alleges. “Most glaringly, the ease of account creation and failure to verify ages or parental consent, no matter how young the self-identified user, permit Roblox to amass as many child users as possible, while also enabling predators to creative deceptive accounts with impunity.”
“Roblox,” the suit continues, “could easily require its users to verify their age, along with proper parental consent, but opts not to. Doing so would create at least some on the content available to users under 18 years old. At the very least, it would be a step towards preventing predators from easily misrepresenting their age, which is often the approach in targeting in grooming children. As one father told the press, ‘There is nothing to stop adults from going on there and pretending they’re kids.’”
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Tennessee Files Lawsuit Against Roblox Over Child Safety Misrepresentations
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