Copyright TechCrunch
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton late on Thursday said he is suing online gaming platform Roblox over child safety concerns, accusing the company of “deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform.” In a statement, Paxton alleged that Roblox chooses to prioritize “pixel pedophiles” and profit over the safety of children, and said the platform has become a “breeding ground for predators.” “We cannot allow platforms like Roblox to continue operating as digital playgrounds for predators,” Paxton said. “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.” Paxton’s lawsuit follows similar cases by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Kentucky, as well as multiple cases in California, Texas, and Pennsylvania against Roblox. The company has come under fire repeatedly for not implementing adequate child safety measures and exposing minors to dangers like grooming, explicit content, and violent or abusive material. In light of such cases and investigations, governments around the world have been rolling out increasingly strict laws and regulations that require social platforms to verify users’ ages, like the U.K.’s Online Safety Act and Mississippi’s age-assurance law. Other states, including Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Virginia, are also considering similar laws. The company has so far responded by adding a slew of safety features, including an age-estimation system that scans users’ selfies and analyzes facial features to estimate age; standardized content and maturity labels; an AI system to detect early signals of child endangerment; safeguards for teenagers; content controls, and more. The company also offers parental controls, tools to restrict communications, and technology that detects when a large number of users are breaking its rules.
