By Gavin Boyle
Alabama and West Virginia are the latest states whose attorney generals have reached a settlement with Roblox over court cases concerning child safety.
“I am extremely proud of the work of this office in securing a settlement that ensures that Alabama’s kids have a safer opportunity to be able to engage in the Roblox platform but also sends a very direct message to others who likewise offer opportunities for children to be online,” said Alabama state Attorney General Steve Marshall. “That is, we’re watching, that we have no tolerance for child exploitation, and we will take action and deliver results when we see that Alabama’s children are engaged in vulnerable activity.”
“While parents will always play the primary role in protecting their children online, we are raising the bar on what we expect from gaming platforms — parents need a partner, not a black box,” he added.
Related: What Parents Should Know After Roblox Settlement
Roblox agreed to a $12.2 million settlement with Alabama and an $11 million settlement with West Virginia. Much of this money will go toward funding child safety operations within the respective states.
“I have two young daughters who love Roblox, so I know how popular it is, but our investigation found serious failures that left children exposed to real danger,” said West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey. “This settlement changes that.”
Earlier this month, Roblox reached a similar settlement with Nevada and is currently embroiled in over 140 lawsuits for failing to protect young users, including cases with attorney generals from Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Florida.
The company continues to maintain its innocence in these cases, arguing that it has a high bar for child safety and is continuously working to protect its younger audience.
“This resolution creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect the next generation of digital citizens,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said after the settlement with Nevada. “We have no finish line when it comes to safety, and we are grateful for the Attorney General’s advocacy in pioneering this path forward.”
Roblox has completely overhauled its safety systems over the past year, introducing much stronger and streamlined parental controls, along with an age verification process to ensure older players cannot easily communicate with younger users. Despite these updates, however, parents have found that predators can still target, groom and coerce their children into exploitative situations.
While Roblox still has a long way to go, it is encouraging to see states start to hold the company accountable for the risk it exposes young users to. Hopefully this pressure will cause the platform to make changes that will create a real difference and allow young users to enjoy the platform without the potential to interact with bad actors.
Read Next: Roblox Makes Shocking Claims About Recent Child Safety Concerns
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