FIRST ON FOX: Kentucky brought a civil lawsuit on Monday against Roblox alleging the massive gaming platform is not safe for children, joining a growing list of entities who have sued over similar allegations.
Attorney General Russell Coleman alleged in the lawsuit, filed in Kentucky Circuit Court and obtained by Fox News Digital, that Roblox has insufficient guardrails for children and therefore exposes them to child predators, violence and sexually explicit material.
"Defendants do not require users to verify their age upon sign-up," Kentucky attorneys wrote in the complaint. "As such, child predators can — and do — establish accounts to pose as children."
Children can sign up to use Roblox and access its millions of games, also known as "experiences," by entering their birthdate, username and password. Kentucky attorneys claim that the signup process needs more barriers to entry and a form of parental consent for minors.
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As a recent example, the lawsuit cited Charlie Kirk "assassination simulators," which cropped up on Roblox in the aftermath of the conservative activist’s killing last month and were briefly accessible to young children. Roblox told Fox Business at the time that it had removed 100 games and counting that included graphic depictions of Kirk being shot.
Kentucky's lawsuit alleged consumer protection violations, accusing Roblox of knowing the platform is unsafe for children yet failing to disclose that risk to regulators and the public.
Fox News reached out to Roblox for comment.
The lawsuit reiterated claims made in lawsuits filed by Louisiana and numerous families that Roblox, which boasts about 85 million active daily users, is rife with users hoping to exploit children.
In April, a 27-year-old man in California was accused of kidnapping a 10-year-old he met on Roblox. In August, a Georgia mom alleged her nine-year-old son was sexually exploited through his use of Roblox. She said a user "extorted" her son into sending explicit images of himself to peers. This month, a New Jersey mother brought a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging "graphic messages and sexual images were exchanged" with her then 11-year-old daughter in conversations that began on Roblox and moved to Discord.
Roblox prioritizes profits over safety, its critics say.
The platform and developers who create games for it profit enormously through an in-app currency called "Robux," which users can purchase with real-world money. In 2024, Roblox’s annual revenue was $3.6 billion and was driven mostly by sales of Robux, according to the lawsuit.
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Roblox is wildly popular among children and teens. In its most recent annual report, Roblox estimated that more than half of its users were under 17 years old. 20% of users were under 10 years old, the report found.
"Given its non-existent barriers to account creation, its attendant astronomical popularity with young children, and the fact that virtually all of the games or experiences on the platform are allowed to be created with no oversight, Roblox quickly became the website of choice for child predators," Kentucky attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
In a statement, Coleman, an elected Republican, called the gaming site a "nightmare scenario" for parents that "appears to be safe, even cartoonish, yet it opens up the doors of our homes to predators."
"For too long, this company has sold out children’s safety for profit, and we’re coming after them with the full force of the law of this Commonwealth," Coleman said.
