Texas sues Roblox, alleging the online gaming platform endangers children
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Texas is the third state to sue the platform, alongside dozens of private plaintiffs who say Roblox didn’t do enough to protect their kids from sexually explicit content.
This article was originally published by Texas Tribune.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the online gaming platform Roblox for allegedly exposing children to sexually explicit content and exploitation, the latest in a flurry of lawsuits from his office aimed at big business.
Texas is the third state to sue Roblox, after Kentucky and Louisiana, on the grounds that the company is not sufficiently protecting minors. Dozens of private suits have been filed in the last few months as well, primarily by families who say their children were sexually abused, exploited or exposed to inappropriate content while using the gaming platform.
On Thursday, a California judge ruled that a high-profile lawsuit against Roblox must proceed in the public eye, after the company tried to handle it in private arbitration.
Roblox is an online platform and virtual community where people can play and design their own games, communicating with each other from behind avatars. Players earn and spend the in-game currency, Robux, and form social groups. The platform is especially popular with kids and teenagers; in 2020, half of all Americans under the age of 16 had a Roblox account.
In a statement, Roblox said it shares Paxton’s commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online and pointed to “industry-leading protocols” it had employed to protect users.
“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,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Paxton, who is running to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s GOP primary, said the platform had become a “digital playground for predators where the well-being of our kids is sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed.”
“Roblox must do more to protect kids from sick and twisted freaks hiding behind a screen,” Paxton said in a statement. “Any corporation that enables child abuse will face the full and unrelenting force of the law.”
In 2023, Texas lawmakers strengthened laws requiring social media platforms to protect minors from inappropriate content online. That legislation is still fighting its way through the courts and parts have been blocked for being unconstitutionally vague.
But Paxton has used the remaining provisions of the law to bring lawsuits against TikTok and now, Roblox. The litigation against TikTok is ongoing.
The Roblox lawsuit is filed in West Texas’ King County, the second least populous county in Texas with just 265 residents and no incorporated communities. One judge, Jennifer Habert, hears cases in King County, as well as three others.