Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has alleged that online gaming platform Roblox has not protected children from abhorrent content.
Coleman filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming that Roblox has allowed minors to be exposed to "animated bloody" content surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
'We constantly monitor all communication for critical harms.'
The lawsuit, posted by Fox News Digital, accuses the massive online gaming community of operating under insufficient guardrails in terms of denying children access to certain materials. This includes violence, sexually explicit materials, and alleged "Charlie Kirk 'assassination simulator[s].'"
Blaze News previously reported that as of Q2 2024, Roblox had a claimed 79 million active daily users, an increase of almost 15 million from the same time in 2023. This included approximately 58% of its user base being under 16 years old, which equates to at least 46 million children.
The alleged assassination simulators "began popping up on Roblox, allowing children as young as 5 years old to access animated bloody depictions of the September 10 shooting," the lawsuit stated.
Roblox could easily "require users to verify their age and their parents' consent by virtually any mechanism, including merely asking for these data," the legal document continued. "Doing so would create at least some restriction on the content available to users under 18 years old."
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- YouTube
"As such, child predators can — and do — establish accounts to pose as children," Kentucky wrote.
In response to the lawsuit, a Roblox spokesperson told Blaze News that the company welcomes the opportunity for a direct conversation with the Attorney General about the topic. However, the company also said that some of the parties involved are seeking financial gain.
"The attorney general's lawsuit is based on outdated and out-of-context information," Roblox said. "We believe together we can increase safety not just on Roblox, but on all platforms used by kids and teens. The AG's office is partnering with plaintiff's attorneys, who we believe have misrepresented matters to seek financial gain."
The spokesperson added, "Roblox has taken an industry-leading stance on age-based communication and will require facial age estimation for all Roblox users who access our communications features by the end of this year. Roblox does not allow image sharing via chat, and most chat on Roblox is subject to filters designed to block the sharing of personal information. We constantly monitor all communication for critical harms and swiftly remove violative content when detected and work closely with law enforcement."
Roblox pointed to more information about its efforts to implement age verification, which undoubtedly would confirm a user's age, but also could deter platform usage altogether.
This includes verification through selfie-videos, the aforementioned "facial age estimation," ID, or verified parental consent.
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The sheer volume of Roblox users makes any enforcement incredibly difficult to pull off without pre-existing barriers to entry, monitoring, or filtration systems. This brings up further issues surrounding digital ID, including, for example, the exposure of children's likenesses.
At the same time, gamers are constantly finding new ways to develop ridiculous scenarios on the platform, such as performing ICE raids or in-game protests. There also exists the threat of bad actors grouping together to discuss crimes or make terror plots.
Roblox told Blaze News that it includes rigorous text chat filters to stop inappropriate contact with minors.
Additionally, the company said that while it started as a "platform for children," 64% of the user base is now over 13 years old.
Blaze News did find several videos on YouTube appearing to be re-creations of Kirk's assassination within the video game.
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