AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against popular online gaming site Roblox, claiming the company behind it is putting “pixel pedophiles and profits” over children’s safety.

Paxton announced the suit on Thursday, Nov. 6, saying that Roblox markets itself as a “safe digital space for children” but that “in reality, it has become a breeding ground for predators.”

Roblox says that it is “deeply committed to child safety” and that its “policies are purposefully stricter than those found on many other platforms.”

What they’re saying:

“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,” said Paxton in a release. “Roblox must do more to protect kids from sick and twisted freaks hiding behind a screen. Any corporation that enables child abuse will face the full and unrelenting force of the law.”

Roblox released a statement to FOX 7 Austin in response to the lawsuit, saying:

“We share Attorney General Paxton’s commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online, which is why we have implemented industry-leading protocols in an effort to protect users and remove bad actors. 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.

“Roblox is deeply committed to child safety. Our policies are purposefully stricter than those found on many other platforms. We prohibit the sharing of images and videos in chat, use filters designed to block the exchange of personal information and our trained teams and automated tools continuously monitor communications to detect and remove harmful content. We have a strong record of working with law enforcement and continue to invest in advanced safety systems to set the gold standard in online safety for the industry.

“We have introduced over 145 safety measures on the platform this year alone, and as a first for the industry, we recently announced that we are working to implement age estimation for all users accessing chat features soon, which will help prevent adults from chatting with minors.”

What is Roblox?

What we know:

Roblox is an online gaming platform where users can “create, play and connect with each other in experiences built by our global community of creators,” according to its website.

Last quarter, Roblox says it had about 151.5 million active users, with almost 40 billion hours of engagement between them.

The platform allows people to play an infinite number of games designed by other users, and to even create their own games using Roblox’s game-developing tool, Roblox Studio. Once a person signs up, they can play games, build them, and chat with others for free.

Roblox also offers in-game purchases, made through its own virtual currency called “Robux”, which can be purchased as part of a Roblox Premium membership or through online gift cards.

Other state AGs filed suit

Big picture view:

Paxton is not the first state attorney general to file suit against the company.

Other state AGs that have filed suit include Louisiana AG Liz Murrill in August and Kentucky AG Russell Coleman in October.

Both also allege that the platform has allowed predators access to kids.

Safety controls on Roblox

Dig deeper:

Roblox does say it has a variety of controls and features to help keep users safe.

Parental controls

Roblox offers account controls that let parents restrict how kids can interact on the site and the types of games they can play.

The “Account Restrictions” feature gives parents and caregivers the option to limit chat to a curated list of contacts, or turn it off altogether. Parents can also choose to lock their kid’s “Contact Settings” so they cannot be changed, Roblox explains on its website. 

To enable these settings, parents can add their email address to a kid’s Roblox account and create a PIN that prevents kids from changing the settings back.

Kids of any age can create an account on Roblox with no parental restrictions. For accounts of kids under 13, Roblox automatically defaults to stricter settings — but a kid could change these if there’s no parent PIN.

Parents can also now see their child’s average screen time and friends list from their Parental Controls dashboard, as well as set daily screen-time limits.

Parents can learn more about those controls here in Roblox’s Parent and Caregiver Guide.

Age verification/estimation tech

Roblox is currently testing out an age verification feature which would require users to provide a government-issued photo ID to prove they are at least 13 years old.

In July, the company announced it would be investing in “age estimation” technology to help confirm user ages and grant access to Trusted Connections. Users 13 and over who want to use this new feature will be prompted to provide a video selfie, which will then be analyzed to estimate their age.

Users must receive an estimation of at least 13 years old to access Trusted Connections and other chat functions that are restricted to users 13 and older, says Roblox.

If they are estimated to be under 13, the platform will remove access to age-inappropriate features. If the system cannot estimate the user’s age, the user’s age will remain “unconfirmed” and they will not be able to access the Trusted Connections feature. However, if they are over 13, they will be able to confirm their age by providing a government-issued photo ID.

Roblox says that unfiltered communication between users aged 18+ and those 13 to 17 is blocked unless a preexisting, real-life relationship exists, confirmed through a QR code or phone contact list.

Open-source AI detection system

In its November Safety Snapshot, Roblox says it is using an open-source “Roblox PII Classifier” to detect and block attempts to violate the company’s policies about sharing personally identifiable information, or PII.

It says that the tool has a “98% recall of potential PII conversations in English text on Roblox.”

Moderator team

In addition to the AI system, Roblox says it employs a large team of “thousands of trained professionals” to monitor uploaded images, audio and video. 

The platform also says it filters text chats in multiple languages to “block detected inappropriate content, such as discriminatory speech, bullying, extremism, violence, sexual content, and more, as well as personal information and instructions on how to move off the platform.”

Working with law enforcement

Roblox told FOX 7 Austin in a statement that it “works closely with law enforcement, government agencies, mental health organizations, and parental advocacy groups to create resources for parents and to keep users safe on the platform.” 

The company says it maintains direct communication with organizations like the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), for immediate escalation of serious identified threats.

The Source: Information in this report comes from the Texas Attorney General’s office, the Associated Press, Roblox, and previous reporting by FOX Television Stations.

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