Roblox has been labelled as a "hunting ground for child-sex predators" in a new lawsuit against the online gaming giant that alleges it caused the sexual exploitation of a 9-year-old boy.
The lawsuit, filed a few days ago in a Georgia state court by an anonymous DeKalb County mother and her young son, accuses Roblox of negligence as well as prioritizing growth over child safety.
It follows a recent wave of similar lawsuits lodged against the US$ 90 billion company that accuse the popular gaming platform of not doing enough to safeguard children from pedophiles.
In a statement to Business Insider recently, a Roblox spokesperson said, "We are deeply troubled by any incident that endangers our users, and safety is a top priority."
"We dedicate substantial resources, including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to help detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior, including attempts to direct users off platform, where safety standards and moderation may be less stringent than ours," the spokesperson said.
The latest lawsuit alleges that these predators harassed the boy for months and ultimately "extorted" him to send sexually explicit images and videos to his friends at school.
As a result, the boy has "suffered devastating and life-altering psychological trauma" and was eventually required to change schools, the lawsuit says.
"Had Defendant implemented even the most basic system of age and identity verification, as well as effective parental controls, Plaintiff would never have engaged with this predator and never been harmed," the lawsuit says.
In July, Roblox announced a new age verification system, which includes an age estimation tool based on a selfie-style video, for users who want to chat back-and-forth with so-called "trusted connections." "If the system estimates that a user is actually under 13, then we will automatically correct the user's age to under 13 and remove access to features that are not appropriate," Roblox says on its website.
The Georgia mother's attorney, Matthew Dolman of the Florida-based firm Dolman Law Group, told Business Insider that he expects even more lawsuits to be filed in the near future and that his firm is currently investigating over 300 incidents on behalf of prospective claimants.
"Roblox has materially misrepresented that its product is safe on multiple occasions knowing full well that law enforcement investigations resulting in arrests of sexual predators are occurring nationwide," Dolman said.
Roblox, a top gaming platform among children and teens, hosts millions of user-generated games called "experiences" that range from racing to horror-themed.
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