- An Oregon woman has sued Roblox, claiming the online gaming platform allowed child predators to groom children, including herself at the age of 9.
- The federal lawsuit alleges that Roblox marketed itself as a safe online environment for children while failing to implement basic safeguards to prevent predators from contacting young users, prioritizing user growth over child safety.
- The lawsuit points to years of statements by Roblox executives promoting the platform as safe for children, but Roblox disputes the claims and states they have robust protections in place, including age checks for chat features and new safety measures introduced this year.
An Oregon woman has sued Roblox, alleging the online gaming giant allowed child predators to use its platform to groom children — including her when she was 9 years old.
The federal lawsuit, filed this month in Northern California, alleges Roblox misled parents by marketing itself as a safe online environment for children while failing to implement basic safeguards that could have prevented predators from contacting young users. The complaint argues the company prioritized user growth over child safety and describes Roblox as “a hunting ground” for child predators.
Attorney Pat Huyett, who represents the unnamed Oregon plaintiff, said the case is part of a much larger problem.
“It’s a massive problem that has caused massive harm to kids throughout the country,” Huyett said.
According to the lawsuit, the girl was targeted in 2016 through a Roblox dress-up game after a man allegedly posed as a child her age and contacted her using the platform’s chat feature. The complaint says he spent weeks gaining her trust before convincing her they were in a romantic relationship and attempting to persuade her to run away with him.
The girl’s mother discovered the conversations after messages appeared on the family’s iPad while her daughter was away from the device. The lawsuit alleges she found messages in which the man asked to shower with the child and claimed they were in a relationship, prompting her to contact law enforcement. Investigators later told the family they believed the suspect was located outside the United States.
Huyett said Roblox built its reputation on promises that it was one of the safest places for children online.
“The CEO has said this is the safest online environment. They told parents they take every precaution possible,” Huyett said.
The lawsuit points to years of statements by Roblox executives and company materials promoting the platform as safe for children, alleging those assurances did not match the protections actually in place.
Roblox disputes the lawsuit’s claims.
“Criminal behavior has no place on Roblox. We have robust protections in place that go beyond many other online platforms, including age checks for chat features designed to limit communication between adults and kids they don’t know, and newly launched age-appropriate Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts for players under the age of 16,” a Roblox spokesperson said in a statement to KGW.
The company has introduced additional safety measures this year, including expanded identity verification, new content moderation tools and facial recognition technology for certain features.
Huyett said those changes came late in the game.
“Coincidentally they started doing that when we started filing our lawsuits,” he said.
Portland Police Detective Jon Richardson, who works on the bureau’s Child Abuse Team and is not involved in the lawsuit, said parents should never assume any online platform is completely safe.
“I think if you want it to be safe you have to have a lot of involvement from the parents,” Richardson said.
He encourages parents to teach children to recognize red flags, protect personal information and remember that people online may not be who they claim to be.
“Where people can hide their face is the perfect environment for somebody to go to that wants to contact kids,” Richardson said.
The alleged grooming happened more than a decade ago, but the lawsuit is moving forward under the applicable statute of limitations. In addition to damages, the lawsuit seeks stronger child safety protections on the platform.
