Ben Simon, known online by the pseudonym Ruben Sim, pushed for action against the Sonic Eclipse Online developer, publishing screenshots of his alleged child rape fantasies and sending a video compiling allegations to a Roblox employee. In a 2025 lawsuit by the state of Louisiana against Roblox, the state also alleged that Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe was a sexually explicit game. Rolling Stone profiled one 16-year-old girl who performed child prostitution as part of these games, who stated that she primarily did it for attention and secondarily for monetary gain via Robux. They found that there was a significant amount of sexual content involving minors simulating explicit acts on the platform in order to obtain Robux.

Technology’s role in safer gaming communities

The millions of reports made each year uniquely situate NCMEC to identify trends and create prevention resources to address the evolving needs of kids and teens online. On February 17, 2026, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr launched an investigation into Roblox following instances and reports of child exploitation. Uthmeier also sought communications to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and reports of abuse to and from Florida users among other things via the subpoena.
Additionally, Roblox has been criticized for its use of microtransactions, advergames, and brand ambassadors, as well as cubet for the alleged financial exploitation of child game developers. Some users have taken to online vigilantism to catch potential child predators; Roblox Corporation has faced significant controversy after taking legal action against some of these users. Child exploitation groups such as 764 and CVLT have operated on Roblox to groom children, and at least 30 people have been arrested since 2018 in the United States for abducting or sexually abusing children they had groomed on the platform.

Report: How Dating App Chats Are Driving Users Away

  • The woman reported that her character slipped on a puddle and was stuck on the ground, at which point several other players roleplayed sexually assaulting her.
  • May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
  • In September 2025, Núcleo Jornalismo launched an investigation into Roblox content aimed at children in Brazil with the support of academics and researchers from various universities in São Paulo.
  • Protect all gaming devices with reliable antivirus software to help guard against potential malware from suspicious downloads or phishing scams.
  • According to a Unity Technologies report, 77% of multiplayer gamers believe that protecting players from abusive behavior should be a priority for game developers.
  • First, ethically, it’s alarming that online games often have teen or even “Everyone” ratings – environments where children face such hostility.
  • But there’s still more to do—join us in protecting children and supporting our mission.

While gamers overwhelmingly want platforms to moderate harmful content, doing it at scale is no small feat. According to a Unity Technologies report, 77% of multiplayer gamers believe that protecting players from abusive behavior should be a priority for game developers. Our survey found that 85.25% of respondents believe gaming platforms should actively moderate offensive content (such as hate symbols, slurs, or sexually explicit mods/skins). No matter how great the gameplay is, if the community is known for harassment, many potential players will simply stay away. That is a huge chunk of the player population deliberately steering clear of specific games because of how players behave in those spaces. These behavioral changes directly impact the social experience and community engagement, two crucial pillars of successful online gaming platforms.
If nearly half of a player base quits or avoids a game due to toxicity, any plans for growth or monetization are basically dead on arrival. Gamers overwhelmingly believe that the responsibility for cleaning up online spaces lies with the platforms and publishers who run them. If there is a silver lining in all this, it’s that gamers themselves overwhelmingly want change. This speaks volumes about how toxic the average game lobby has become. Our survey reveals clear coping mechanisms players adopt.

Moderation and safety updates

While Roblox is free-to-play, it features a virtual currency known as “Robux” that can be purchased with real-world money. We’re passionate about making sure it’s a super safe environment for kids to play and enjoy themselves. We watch for any act of targeting, or verbally attacking or intimidating your child. See all your child’s activity in one place. “GameSafe is a parent’s best friend in the digital age.”
Roblox had previously clarified to the Federal Government of São Paulo that its monetization model was not abusive and that minors had previously consented to the platform monetizing their content. Meanwhile, in 2024, the Mexico City Cyber Police and the Secretariat of Citizen Security (SCC) also reported that Roblox was being used to promote criminal activity such as the distribution of drugs and illicit substances to minors in the Mexican capital. In the same month, Sarah El Haïry, the High Commissioner for Children (Haute-commissaire à l’Enfance), publicly stated that issues such as pedophilia and sexual harassment on the platform were causing concern among French regulators. In January 2026, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) launched investigations to probe whether the platform was safe in the European Union after multiple reports and lawsuits claiming that the platform was a danger to minors. In February 2026, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Media Regulation passed a statement banning access to Roblox, with concerns being “internet and social media use among children”. In addition, members of Bahrain’s parliament also began drafting a bill to ban Roblox in the country following concerns about child safety.
Among them was Anika Wells, who had described the platform as “disturbing” after seeing how children could easily bypass the platform’s security to access sexual content as well as experiences that promoted suicide and self-harm. Developers and players alike began revolting and demanding the platform to revert the update while also claiming that the system fails to tackle the flood of predators using the platform by having the system make it easier for them to target children. Chat on the platform is further limited to users in or near the specified age groups, with exceptions for “trusted connections”, and is disabled by default for players under 9 years old unless overridden by an age-verified parent. In August 2025, Roblox announced that social hangout games featuring private spaces, such as bedrooms or bathrooms, would only be accessible to users who have verified they are at least 17 years old through government-issued ID. On November 6, 2024, Roblox made an announcement to their developer forum that “social hangouts”, specifically experiences meant for socialization rather than playing games, and games that allowed for users to draw on 2D canvases would no longer be allowed for users under 13.
The platform is made to appeal to a family-friendly audience, and has been described as a massively multiplayer online game (MMO). The games featured on Roblox vary in genre, from role-playing games to ones centered around escaping prison, among others. Games can be created by any user through the platform’s game engine, Roblox Studio, and then be shared to and played by other players.

  • We know it’s important to understand and be comfortable with the video games you and your children are playing.
  • Roblox had previously clarified to the Federal Government of São Paulo that its monetization model was not abusive and that minors had previously consented to the platform monetizing their content.
  • We surveyed 2,000 American gamers aged to understand how toxicity impacts gaming.
  • In other words, abuse has become expected – even “normal” – in many game communities, a status quo that poses serious consequences for players and the industry.
  • How can I monitor my child’s messages in gaming chats?

Between September and December 2025, authorities in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul informed parents that the platform was being used by pedophile networks to solicit sexual and self-harm videos from minors in exchange for Robux in cities in southern Brazil. In August 2025, the Defensoría del Pueblo de la Provincia de Catamarca informed parents in the Argentine province that the platform’s security was insufficient to protect minors and that in recent years cases of sexual harassment of minors were becoming more frequent in the province thanks to Roblox. The Division of Cybercrime of the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC) was the first Venezuelan government organization to issue a national statement warning that the platform was not safe and that parents should monitor their children’s chats. The Netherlands and Belgium have restricted certain games on the platform due to their regulations on in-game “loot boxes”, which give out items based on random or unknown chances, to reduce children’s exposure to gambling. In the same month, Janybek Amatov, a member of the Kyrgyz parliament, raised restrictions on games marketed to children, such as Roblox and Minecraft, following the presence of pedophiles.

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The law firm stated it was “investigating hundreds of similar cases” and intended to file more lawsuits in the subsequent months. Within the same month, Venezuelan authorities noted that Roblox was being used by local pedophile networks to extort minors. Between 2023 and 2024, the Public Ministry of Labor (Ministério Público do Trabalho) of Sao Paulo launched an investigation into monetization on the platform and how the American company was taking advantage of young developers in Brazil, where the company did not provide them with proper payment for their work. In addition, the Spanish Civil Guard also issued a statement saying that reports of sex offenders using Roblox to extort minors were becoming much more frequent in Spain, where they recorded cases of several minors in Murcia who had begun to interact and maintain direct contact with pedophiles in southern Spain. In 2025, the Committee for Children’s Rights Protection of the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan issued a statement alerting parents to the presence of pedophiles on the platform. Developers also claimed that the verification system could not be trusted in the sense of how they may collect and store users’ faces.

As of August 2025update, the corporation is facing several lawsuits in the United States for alleged failures to protect children. Poki Kids is an online playground specially created for young players. We guard against gamers attempting to move the conversation away from the protected gaming platform to discord or other messaging apps. “If users have a bad experience, whether it’s harassment in a game, scams on a marketplace, or hate speech on a social platform, retention becomes nearly impossible.
First, ethically, it’s alarming that online games often have teen or even “Everyone” ratings – environments where children face such hostility. The kinds of slurs, sexual comments, and hate imagery that proliferate in some games are absolutely not what most parents want their kids to witness or endure. Recent studies show that three-quarters of teens and pre-teens (ages 10–17) experienced harassment in online games, a sharp rise from the previous year. When even seasoned adult gamers are wary of exposing children to the standard multiplayer experience, it’s a damning indictment of the status quo. We surveyed 2,000 gamers in the United States to understand how toxicity impacts online multiplayer games. As they get older, introduce more interactive games gradually, always with parental controls enabled to manage content, communication, and time spent gaming.
More than 90% of children over the age of 2 play video games, and three-quarters of American households own a video game console, according to the National Institutes of Health. We know it’s important to understand and be comfortable with the video games you and your children are playing. That same month, a different class action lawsuit was filed by parents against Roblox for false advertising, exposing children to sexual content, and enabling children to spend large amounts of their parents’ money on Robux. El Haïry also emphasized that the conversation about protecting children online should also include video games and not just social media in general.

Online Gaming Safety: 9 in 10 Gamers Wouldn’t Let Their Kid Play

For messages outside the gaming platform, like on Discord, enabling notifications on those accounts can offer additional oversight. Games often have customizable settings that allow you to control in-game spending and restrict who can interact with your child. Strong, unique passwords are essential to protecting your child’s gaming accounts from hackers. Games downloaded from shady sources can contain harmful content or malware, so stick to platforms that provide clear content ratings and descriptions. For kids ages 8 to 17, that adds up to an average of 1.5 to 2 hours each day spent gaming.
May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. Game ratings and content descriptors can vary by country. Ratings systems also give additional  information on features, like in-game purchasing. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this Web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). Download presentations, tip sheets, lesson plans, and other safety resources.
If the user’s age could not be determined with high confidence after a facial scan, the platform would ask for the ID of the user or their parent. By default, users under 9 were only allowed to access “minimal” and “mild” experiences, whereas “moderate” experiences would require parental consent. They had met on Roblox and had been friends for around six years, communicating through various social media platforms and meeting in person four or five times. The perpetrators in both cases were in close contact with each other and communicated through online communication. Online child exploitation groups which operate on the platform like 764 and CVLT are also known to hold neo-Nazi and other extremist ideologies.