By Gavin Boyle
Many people across social media are calling for Roblox CEO David Baszucki to resign after he sent a cease and desist to YouTuber Schlep after he exposed a pedophile ring on the site.
“The Roblox corporation has sent a cease and desist letter to me, a 22-year-old because I catch predators on their platform. Within the last year, me and my team have gotten six predators arrested within the Roblox community. And these predators are facing real life consequences…” Schlep said in a video. “Roblox has made a very firm stance that I can no longer access the Roblox platform.”
Schlep, who has a large voice in the community with over 750,000 subscribers on YouTubers, has found immense support across the internet, and a petition for Baszucki to resign has even reached over 100,000 signatures. The problem has become so high profile that Roblox has issued a response to explain its actions.
Related: Roblox Isn’t Safe for Your Kids. In Fact, It’s a ‘Pedophile Hellscape’
“While seemingly well-intentioned, the vigilantes we’ve banned have taken actions that are both unacceptable and create an unsafe environment for users,” the company said in a statement, per The Independent. “Similar to actual predators, they often impersonated minors, actively approached other users, then tried to lead them to other platforms to have sexually explicit conversations.”
The action taken by these vigilantes, however, would not be necessary if Roblox had stronger safety precautions that would protect its younger users. Last fall, The National Center on Sexual Exploitation released a scathing report that revealed over 100,000 users regularly share child sexual abuse material.
“A new report describes Roblox as a ‘pedophile hellscape for kids.’ Researchers easily identified 38 groups – one with as many as 103,000 members – openly trading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and soliciting sexual acts from minors,” NCOSE said.
Meanwhile, Roblox continues to actively fight legislation across the country that would hold them accountable for the abuse their users face as a result of using the platform.
“For the last couple of years, I have passed a number of child online protection bills. And every year, Roblox hires lobbyists to oppose and actively work to stall my bills,” said Louisiana State Representative Laurie Schlegel. “This session, a Roblox executive personally came down to Louisiana to work against my Duty of Care bill. For a platform that has been described in the news as having a pedophile problem, you would think Roblox would make drastic changes. But they have consistently shown they put profits over child safety.”
Roblox needs to be held accountable for how it allows its users to be exploited. While vigilante justice may not be the best option for justice, when Roblox refuses to take any responsibility, sometimes it is the only option.
Read Next: Roblox Enabled Young Girl’s Abduction. Now Her Parents Are Suing.
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +3Share:
– Content: +3