Lawsuit claims the companies’ digital platforms expose children to sexual predators
HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Lanier Law Firm is representing the State of Arkansas and Attorney General Tim Griffin in litigation against Roblox Corp. and Discord Inc., alleging that the companies’ online platforms are exposing Arkansas children to sexual predators, grooming, sextortion, and physical harm while assuring parents their children are safe. The complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court characterizes the companies’ business operations as a deliberate “two-stage predatory pipeline” based on engineering decisions that have ignored technologies that could protect young users.
“Roblox is a digital playground for America’s kids, but what many parents don’t realize is that Roblox has filled that playground with adults,” says the firm’s Mark Lanier. “We have evidence that Roblox is even allowing predators to use voice modulators and pretend to be kids—because it’s good for Roblox’s business and the company doesn’t care about the dangers it’s perpetuating.”
According to the complaint, Roblox functions as the first point of contact where predators pose as children, build trust through gameplay and the platform’s virtual currency, and then migrate victims to the messaging platform Discord. On this platform, Discord’s anonymous servers and unmonitored direct messages allow exploitation to escalate into sextortion, solicitation of explicit images, and documented in-person assaults.
“Roblox allows anyone to create an account in minutes without verifying their age, that they have their parent’s consent, or that they are not sexual predators,” says the firm’s Zeke DeRose. “The company has possessed facial-recognition and age-verification technology but has chosen not to implement those protections to avoid driving away users. As a result, Roblox is filled with graphic adult-oriented content, which kids are able to access in the same game as adults posing as kids.”
“Roblox’s CEO called the problem of child predators on his platform ‘an opportunity.’ If that doesn’t tell you who these companies are, I don’t know what does,” says DeRose. “Arkansas children are not an opportunity because they are someone’s kids. And we intend to make sure Roblox and Discord are held fully accountable for what they have built and what they have failed to do.”
Earlier this year a Lanier Law Firm trial team secured a $6 million verdict covering punitive and compensatory damages against Meta Platforms Inc. and Google’s YouTube, finding the two corporate giants liable for deliberately designing addictive social media platforms that caused severe mental health harm to a young woman.
The state seeks injunctive relief to require both platforms to implement meaningful age verification, parental controls that cannot be overridden by children, and architectural changes to separate child users from adults. The complaint also seeks civil penalties of $10,000 per knowing violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Act, compensatory damages, disgorgement of profits, restitution, attorneys’ fees, and abatement of the public nuisance both companies have created.
Roblox is facing similar litigation in multiple states. The Arkansas case is State of Arkansas v. Roblox Corp. et al., Case No. 26STCV18664, in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
About Lanier Law Firm
The Lanier Law Firm is an award-winning national trial firm specializing in a variety of practice areas, including asbestos exposure, pharmaceutical liability, business litigation, and product liability. With talented attorneys in Houston, New York and Los Angeles, the firm has won more than $20 billion for clients since its founding in 1990.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Kevin Roberts
(713) 659-5200
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