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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sues Roblox
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is suing an online gaming company called Roblox.
“They market themselves as a safe place for kids and say they’re the number one place for kids’ gaming,” Bird said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “We found through out investigation that is not the case, that they don’t have adequate safeguards in place and, in fact, child predators could have access to these kids.”
Bird indicated as many as two out of three children between the ages of 9 and 12 have a Roblox account, “so very young children are on this gaming service and many parents don’t realize the problems with Roblox because they’ve been told it’s safe and educational.”
The lawsuit accuses Roblox of violating Iowa’s Consumer Protection law by claiming it is equipped with every precaution possible, while allowing adults to hide behind avatars and chat with children playing games online. The lawsuit cites a criminal case in Iowa. “A man from Tennessee was charged with abducting an Iowa teen that he met through Roblox and then took her back to Tennessee,” Bird said. “And he is charged with sexually assaulting her.”
Bird is accusing Roblox of creating “a breeding ground for sexual predators” and she’s asking a judge to force Roblox to either provide more stringent safety measures to protect children or stop doing business in Iowa. “Roblox has some disturbing content that children should not be exposed to,” Bird said, “including aspects of the game known as ‘Epstein’s Island.’ ‘Survive Diddy’ is another experience that can kids can participate in…very sexually explicit, inapproprite material for children or anyone under the age of 18, much less the 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds that often are on Roblox.”
Roblox faces a growing number of lawsuits filed by government officials and parents who say their children were groomed and exploited by adults on the platform. The Roblox website says the company “dedicates substantial resources” to detect and prevent inappropriate content and online behavior and has installed “40 new features” over the past year to protect children and upgrade parental controls.
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