Last week, the state of Louisiana dragged Roblox to court over child safety concerns. The company’s shares fell 10% in just days following the backlash. The suing of the gaming giant was just the beginning of its woes.
Over the years, there have been persistent allegations that Roblox lacks infrastructure to protect children, forcing “vigilante” users to step in to catch predators. In a lengthy message last Wednesday, Roblox confirmed that it had removed vigilantes from its platform.
“While seemingly well-intentioned, the vigilantes we’ve banned have taken actions that are both unacceptable and create an unsafe environment for users,” said the company’s Chief Security Officer, Matt Kaufman.
“We have been monitoring vigilante activity on Roblox for some time. These groups began by reporting safety concerns, commenting on news about Roblox, and challenging us to do better. We appreciated this feedback and used these reports to improve our safety systems.
“More recently, vigilante activity evolved. Instead of just reporting on safety issues, vigilantes started impersonating children and actively sought to connect with adult users. Those conversations mimicked inappropriate behavior and actively encouraged other users to connect on other social media and messaging platforms—thus bypassing Roblox’s own safety systems.”
Instead of relying on vigilantes, Roblox has asked users to directly report issues using official channels “so we can investigate quickly and effectively”. The message came around the same time that “Schlep”, a popular user who catches predators, was banned on the platform.
Following the allegations, Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against Roblox, accusing the company of not doing enough to protect children on the platform. In the 42-page lawsuit, Murrill said adults often pose as children to create accounts and easily pass the security checks.
Call for Roblox CEO’s resignation gathers steam
A petition calling for the resignation of Roblox’s CEO, David Baszucki, recently saw a spike in signatures as the company’s controversy played out like a broken record. In just 10 days, the petition has garnered over 130,000 signatures and counting.
The petition started by MrMhGaming, the owner of a Bangla YouTube gaming channel, said, “Roblox is supposed to be a safe and creative space for children. But under the leadership of CEO David Baszucki, that safety has been repeatedly compromised. Instead of prioritizing the protection of young users, Roblox Corporation continues to allow harmful and exploitative behavior to thrive on its platform — with little accountability or transparency.”
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“Children are being exploited and exposed to dangerous content, all while Roblox’s executive leadership turns a blind eye. If nothing changes, this pattern of negligence will continue — and more children will be hurt. This is not just about poor leadership. This is about child safety.”
MrMhGaming went ahead to highlight four reasons why Baszucki should be removed, including his failure to act against predators and abusers, allowing dangerous content to circulate on the platform, punishing whistleblowers and concerned community members, and ignoring calls for reform.
Previous child safety incidents on Roblox
This is not the first time that Roblox has been in the news for not doing enough to ensure the safety of children on its platform. In 2019, a 19-year-old used the platform to groom 150 children. In June 2021, Ron Machluf, who was 18 years old at that time, was indicted for using the platform “to lure and commit sexual offenses against several girls between the ages of 7 and 12”.
The most recent incident was the arrest of a 21-year-old Chilean male in 2024. He was arrested at LAX airport “on suspicion of contacting a minor for a sexual offense”. He met the 13-year-old girl on Roblox and proceeded to book an Airbnb near her home.
It was recently announced that Chris ‘To Catch a Predator’ Hansen was working on a documentary that would focus on the state of play in the company. The report said he was working with Sclep and others. Hansen said he has “already interviewed law enforcement investigators and victims of this horrible activity”.
What do you think would be the best step for Roblox to protect the millions of children using the platform? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
