Texas sues Roblox, accusing it of “blatant disregard for safety laws” and “deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton files suit Roblox Suspected of “deceiving parents” and “blatantly ignoring” safety laws. Paxton previously took similar action against “several large tech social media companies” and TikTok.

“I'm suing Roblox for putting pixel pedophilia and profit over the safety of Texas children,” Paxton said. wrote in social media posts. “We cannot allow platforms like Roblox to continue to serve as digital playgrounds for predators, sacrificing the well-being of our children on the altar of corporate greed.”

In a press statement, Paxton expanded on this point, writing that he is suing Roblox Corporation, “a multi-billion dollar company that operates one of the largest online gaming sites for children that has blatantly ignored state and federal online safety laws while deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform.”

Roblox is one of the largest video game platforms in the world, with a huge user base thanks to the popularity of experiences like “Grow a Garden” and “Steal Brain Rot.” Paxton claims that despite Roblox positioning itself as a safe space, it has become a “breeding ground for predators.”

He added: “Children in Texas are repeatedly exposed to sexually explicit content, exploitation and grooming because Roblox has chosen to put pixel pedophilia and corporate profits over the safety of Texas children.”

“Roblox must do more to protect kids from the sick and twisted monsters that lurk behind their screens. Any company that allows child abuse will face the full and ruthless force of the law.”

IGN has reached out to Roblox for comment. roblox told British Broadcasting Corporation It was “disappointed” to be prosecuted for “misrepresentations and sensational allegations”. A spokesperson said the company shares Paxton's commitment to keeping children safe online and has taken steps to remove bad actors and protect its users.

Latest on Roblox security snapshotthe company said it “continues to innovate around security” and revealed it had open sourced a version Roblox PII Classifierwhich “significantly enhances” its ability to detect and block attempts to violate its policy on sharing personally identifiable information (PII).

“Since implementation, PII English dialogue recall has increased to 98%, outperforming other leading open source models,” Roblox said, adding that it is also committed to increasing transparency for users reporting “any issues.”

“We know users want more information about what happened when reporting on Roblox, so we've expanded the list of categories we can respond to,” it added. “Across all report types, we will now let users know when we have taken action on their reports. This has resulted in a 250% increase in feedback to users on reports they have submitted.”

Photograph: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist and consultant for IGN with over 15 years of experience working with some of the largest gaming sites and publications in the world. She's also a Guardian, a Spartan, a Silent Hill Warrior, a Legend, and an eternal High Chaos. find her in blue sky.