Financial bulletin highlights that Roblox facilitates child sexual abuse.
A Roblox representative described the accusations as misleading.
A well-known financial newsletter has accused Roblox of enabling large-scale child sexual exploitation and inappropriate content on its platform, drawing on years of media reports. These allegations are detailed in The Bear Cave, a newsletter dedicated to short selling; however, Roblox argues that the founder of The Bear Cave is highlighting isolated cases of abuse to benefit from presenting a bleak picture of the service.
Eric Porterfield, Senior Director of Policy Communications at Roblox, stated that the article includes misleading, irresponsible, and, in many cases, false accusations to further the author's motivations as a short seller. Porterfield emphasized that the company rejects the claim that child endangerment is a widespread or systemic issue on the platform, assuring that millions of users have a safe and positive experience every day.
The Bear Cave report mentions 16 cases since 2020 where adults were arrested or charged with sexually exploiting children they met on Roblox. One of the cases involves a man who "manipulated 150 children into participating in sexual activities" on the platform. Additionally, it discusses so-called "condominium games" where users simulate sexual activities, something that has been previously reported.
It is noteworthy that these documented instances represent a small fraction of Roblox's vast user base, which has over 79 million daily active users, 42% of whom are 13 years old or younger. Porterfield stated that Roblox continuously updates its safety practices to "detect and prevent malicious activities" on the platform, blocking inappropriate words and phrases in chats and prohibiting the sharing of images. According to the company, condominium games are often removed quickly, within minutes, and are difficult for average users to find.
The Bear Cave report also alleges that Roblox hosts inappropriate non-sexual content, including games where players reenact school shootings or the Holocaust. Previous reports have documented recreations of mass shootings, including the attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Wired journalists have observed Nazi role-playing games on the platform. In August 2023, two families from California sued Roblox for allegedly allowing illegal gaming rings to target children on the platform, and the company has unsuccessfully attempted to dismiss the charges.
Reports of inappropriate content on Roblox, whether sexual or not, are not a new issue for the service and are not necessarily surprising given its user base of tens of millions. However, this issue has become particularly heated for Roblox at a time when lawmakers and advocates are debating the responsibility of platforms regarding child protection. Roblox has been involved in lobbying to shape the Kids Online Safety Act, and its CEO, David Baszucki, met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this year.
Porterfield mentioned that they want to ensure that by encouraging young people to create and share their works, this is not limited, highlighting the importance of promoting organic learning and positive communication on the platform.
