By India McCarty
Nebraska is the latest state to sue video game platform Roblox, accusing the site of exploiting children and misrepresenting its safety measures.
“For years, Roblox has known that it has a pedophile problem,” the state’s lawsuit, filed by Nebraska’s Attorney General Mike Hilgers, says. “It built an extremely popular interactive gaming and social media platform by doing what other social media companies would not: marketing to and accepting pre-teenage users. As a result, Roblox became, in its own words, the ‘#1 gaming site for kids and teens.’”
The state claims Roblox violated the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act and the Nebraska Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and is seeking damages.
The suit did acknowledge that Roblox has put parental controls into place but said the site is not doing enough to protect children from online predators.
Related: Roblox Isn’t Safe for Your Kids. In Fact, It’s a ‘Pedophile Hellscape’
“Even with parental oversight settings enabled, parents continue to lack visibility as to who their child is messaging and what the messages say, leaving unaddressed Roblox’s fundamental deficiency that facilitates grooming and predation on children — adult access to and communication with children,” Nebraska’s complaint reads.
In a statement given to The New York Post, Hilgers said, “Parents deserve the truth. Roblox has built a multibillion-dollar business on the trust of families, all while creating a playground for predators and exposing children to graphic and dangerous content.”
“Our office will not tolerate companies that endanger kids and mislead the public,” he continued.
A spokesperson for Roblox told The Post, “While we share Attorney General Hilgers’ commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online, we are disappointed that he is choosing to file a lawsuit that fundamentally misrepresents how Roblox works. Roblox is built with safety at its core, and we strengthen our protections every day.”
“We prohibit user-to-user image and video sharing, utilize rigorous filters to block personal information from being shared, and enforce global age-based settings that limit younger users to chatting with peers by default,” the spokesperson continued. “We take swift action against those found to violate our rules, and work closely with law enforcement to support investigations.”
Nebraska is the latest state to sue Roblox, joining Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, Iowa and Tennessee, as well as Los Angeles County.
“The app platform they have created has been used by predators to take advantage, exploit and send inappropriate material to young children,” LA County Assistant Counsel Scott Kuhn said, via CBS News. “The app needs to have better safeguards and moderation so that people are limited in the number of accounts they can sign up for.”
This latest lawsuit is another indicator that online gaming platforms need to step up their security measures to keep young users safe.
Read Next: Why Experts Call Roblox a ‘Hunting Ground’ for Predators
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