Texas sues Roblox calling it a predator playground

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The state of Texas has decided it’s game over for Roblox, or at least that’s what Attorney General Ken Paxton hopes. 

In a fiery new lawsuit, Paxton accuses the massively popular gaming platform of “putting pixel pedophiles and profits over the safety of Texas children,” claiming the company has ignored safety laws while misleading parents about what’s really happening behind those cute little avatars.

According to the complaint, Roblox has become a “habitual destination for child predators,” hosting grooming, exploitation, and even blackmail rings disguised as in-game communities. 

One example cited is “Group 764,” which allegedly used online games to identify and manipulate victims into explicit acts or self-harm. 

The suit says Roblox’s push for parental controls came only after bad press and lawsuits, including a brutal 2023 report from short-seller Hindenburg that called the platform an “X-rated pedophile hellscape.” 

Texas isn’t alone in going after Roblox. 

Louisiana and Kentucky have both filed similar suits accusing the company of fostering a predator-friendly environment, while Florida’s attorney general recently subpoenaed Roblox for more information. 

Add to that several families who’ve filed their own lawsuits, and you’ve got a growing legal pile-on against one of the world’s biggest kid-focused platforms.

Roblox, of course, says the accusations are wildly exaggerated. 

“We’re disappointed the AG chose to sensationalize rather than collaborate,” said Eric Porterfield, Roblox’s senior policy comms director, in a statement to The Verge. 

“We’ve introduced over 145 safety measures this year alone.” Those measures include ID and facial-scan-based age verification, plus AI systems designed to flag early signs of predatory behavior.

With more than 111 million daily users, most of them kids, Roblox sits in the tricky crosshairs of popularity and responsibility. 

Like social platforms before it, the company may end up leaning on Section 230 to argue it’s not liable for what users do on its platform.

For now, Texas is hoping to make Roblox answer for more than just lag and loot boxes, accusing it instead of letting the real monsters in the game roam free.