A Horrific Grooming Of A 10-Year-Old That Began On Roblox
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Roblox has been criticized for its child safety issues, but argues it’s investing in minor protection. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
In 2023, a mother called the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center with concerns about her 10-year-old daughter, who she said had been groomed by a man on the popular games platform Roblox.
According to a recently-unsealed search warrant reviewed by Forbes, the man had fostered a relationship with the girl on the site, then turned the conversation sexual, asking for pictures of the minor that she provided over text message. The mother said the man had later hacked into the girl’s online schooling accounts, locking her out of all of her classes because she only attended virtually. Her mother told investigators she feared the man may have obtained administrator level access to those virtual schools. She told FBI agents her daughter had tried to take her own life more than once. The daughter later told the FBI that her other friends on Roblox had been stalked and harassed by the same man. He has not been charged with a crime. The Department of Justice declined to comment on the case.
Roblox has been under fire in recent months over allegations it has failed to protect its minor users. In April, Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said he was issuing a subpoena to Roblox “to uncover how this platform is marketing to children and to see what policies they are implementing—if any—to avoid interactions with predators.” Uthmeier said in an online statement there had been “concerning reports about children being exposed to graphic or harmful material on the gaming platform, as well as predatory adults being able to message minors on the app freely.”
Roblox said it was continuing to improve its safety procedures and systems. “As a policy, we cannot comment on pending litigation. With that being said, Roblox is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our community and helping protect children is a top priority,” spokesperson Kadia Koroma said.
“We invest significant resources in advanced technology like robust filters as well as maintaining human moderation teams, to help detect and address inappropriate content and behavior and do not allow user-to-user image sharing on our platform.” She said Roblox constantly monitors the platform for inappropriate content and regularly works with law enforcement to protect children.
The mounting criticism hasn’t stopped Roblox’s growth. In its first quarter results released earlier this year, Roblox reported that average daily active users hit 97.8 million, up 26% year-over-year.
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