Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird Files Lawsuit Against Roblox

If no one funds local news, your community is just rumors. Help Decorah News bring facts home. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Roblox, the popular online gaming company, for allegedly putting Iowa children in danger of sexual exploitation. Roblox, an online game platform, has over 80 million daily users, "many of those are Iowans and most of whom are children under the age of 18," according to a news release from the attorney general's office. Despite having a large base of child users, Bird said the company had taken insufficient action to address problems with sexual exploitation and stop the distribution of child sex abuse material on the platform. In the petition filed Tuesday, Bird wrote Roblox had promised parents the platform was safe for children and equipped with safety measures "while knowing that the platform lacked necessary guardrails and facilitated the sexual exploitation of teen and preteen children and the distribution of child sexual abuse material." There are several lawsuits filed against the Roblox Corporation alleging the company has facilitated child sex crimes. One of the lawsuits was filed by an Iowa family, who claims their 13-year-old daughter was found in Tennessee after being taken from her grandmother's house and sexually abused by a person she met in a Roblox chat room. "This tragic example is indicative of a pattern of grooming and predatory behavior on Roblox, of which Roblox has long been aware," the petition states. The lawsuit is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction to enjoin Roblox from engaging in "deceptive and unfair acts" by either banning them from doing business in Iowa or requiring the company places "additional safeguards and child protection requirements on the Roblox platform." The lawsuit also seeks injunctive relief, as well as reimbursement and other costs related to the allegations under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. "We will fight for our children. Roblox created a breeding ground for sexual predators, and Iowa's children are paying the price," Bird said in a statement. "Roblox must either make their game a safe place for children or stop doing business in our state. Parents must be told the truth so they can protect their children online from inappropriate material, grooming, exploitation, and other predatory practices." Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in a statement the newly filed lawsuit "contains patently false claims about our platform," saying Roblox has taken many steps to protect minors from sexual exploitation. "Roblox is built with safety at its core," Kaufman said in a statement. "We have advanced safeguards that monitor our platform for harmful content and communications. Users cannot send or receive images via chat, eliminating one of the most prevalent opportunities for misuse seen elsewhere online. Safety is a constant and consistent focus of our work, and we are currently rolling out additional measures to further limit who users can chat with. We take swift action against anyone found to violate our safety rules and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations and help hold bad actors accountable." Kaufman said the company continues to "evolve and strengthen our protections every day" and encouraged parents to visit Roblox's webpage on safety measures to get more information. Be the first to know! Sign up for the free newsletter and unlock exclusive updates, breaking news, and tips from around the community.