Roblox is doing everything it can to keep child sex abuse lawsuits filed by hundreds of people out of court.
Over 150 lawsuits have been filed at the federal level, while more are at the state level. These lawsuits all accuse Roblox of not protecting children against child predators, despite public claims stating otherwise. And though these suits are being filed to hold Roblox accountable for their inaction against pedophiles, the multi-billion dollar company is seemingly trying to use language to prevent these cases from being decided by a judge and jury.
Roblox’s terms of use state that by signing up for the platform, users “are giving up the right to file a lawsuit in court before a judge or jury, including in a class action, for any disputes” that are subject to arbitration.
Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio spoke with one of the alleged victims, named Myra, for a report on the lawsuits.
“They just want to put everything behind the scenes,” Myra told D’Anastasio. “They don’t want everybody to know what actually is going on.”
In February, 800 parents sent a letter to Roblox’s board of directors demanding that the company stop trying to force these types of lawsuits behind closed doors.
“Families want these companies to put child safety first and to address serious concerns openly, not behind closed doors,” Pat Huyett, a partner at law firm Anapol Weiss, said at the time.
Multiple judges, according to D’Anastasio, have blocked Roblox, as well as Discord in other suits, from moving any sexual predator lawsuits into arbitration. The companies, however, are appealing the rulings.
Roblox has been banned in countries like Türkiye over concerns of child exploitation. The company has also removed what it called “vigilantes” from the platform for trying to go after sexual predators themselves, leading to accusations of protecting the predators.
Insider Gaming has reached out to Roblox for comment on the arbitration appeals and the cases brought against it. As of publication, no response has been received.
You can read more about some of the lawsuits filed against Roblox via Anapol Weiss.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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