Florida Sues Roblox Over Child Safety Concerns in Gaming Platform
- Sagar Mankar
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Florida has filed a major lawsuit against Roblox, describing it as a “hunting ground” for sexual predators.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on December 11 that his office filed a 76-page civil lawsuit against Roblox in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court, marking a significant escalation in the state’s ongoing investigation into the platform.
According to the lawsuit, predators allegedly use Roblox “to find, groom, and abuse children,” with investigators documenting cases in which Florida minors were coerced into sending sexually explicit images of themselves.
In extreme cases, some victims were reportedly abducted and sexually assaulted after meeting adults through the platform. While no individual victims are named, even under pseudonyms, the filing cites recent arrests in Flagler County, Ocala, and Palm Springs involving adults accused of exploiting minors they met through Roblox.
The lawsuit further claims Roblox has failed to prevent children from accessing explicit user-generated content despite marketing itself as a child-friendly space. The filing states that accounts created for children ages 7, 8, and 10 were able to enter experiences such as: “condo” sex games, virtual strip clubs, roleplay games with simulated sexual activity, and games referencing real‑world sex‑crime scandals (e.g., “Diddy” and “Epstein” themed worlds).
According to the filing, predators allegedly used Robux, in-game currency, as leverage, pressuring children to send explicit images in exchange for in-game currency while Roblox “takes a cut of the transaction.”
The lawsuit also targets Roblox’s direct messaging and voice chat features, which it claims are easy to bypass despite being nominally age-restricted, allowing adults to move conversations to unmoderated platforms like Discord or Snapchat.
In a video posted to X, Uthmeier said the lawsuit followed a review of materials Roblox produced in response to a state subpoena. “We reviewed the information demanded in our subpoena and what we found is unacceptable,” he said. “Roblox aggressively markets to young children, but fails to protect them from sexual predators.” He added, “As a father of three little ones and as Florida’s attorney general, my number one priority is simple: to protect our kids. Roblox broke the trust of parents and my office will make sure they answer for it.”
The Florida lawsuit also references allegations involving Roblox safety advocate Michael Schlep, claiming the company retaliated against him after he publicly raised concerns about predatory behavior. According to excerpts cited in the filing, Schlep helped identify predators that later led to arrests, but was allegedly banned and issued a cease-and-desist notice.
Florida is seeking an injunction, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and additional penalties of up to $150,000 under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The state also alleges violations of federal child privacy laws, arguing Roblox collected data from users under 13 without verified parental consent.
Roblox has pushed back strongly against the allegations. In a statement released to media, Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said, “This lawsuit fundamentally misrepresents how Roblox works. Roblox is built with safety at its core.” He added, “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.”
Kaufman also pointed to upcoming changes, stating, “We are also rolling out additional measures to further limit who users can chat with, going beyond what is required by law and what other platforms do. We take swift action against anyone found to violate our safety rules and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations and hold bad actors accountable.”
Beyond Florida’s action, Roblox is also facing private litigation. On the same day the state lawsuit was filed, national litigation firm Dolman Law Group announced a separate child sexploitation lawsuit against Roblox and Snap, Inc. The complaint, filed on behalf of a now-14-year-old identified as John Doe, alleges the child was groomed on Roblox in 2022 by an adult pretending to be a teenager before being pressured to send explicit images after moving conversations to Snapchat.