Los Angeles County Files Child Safety Suit Against Roblox
On February 19, Los Angeles County filed a civil complaint against Roblox Corporation, accusing the company of exposing children to sexually explicit material, grooming, and exploitation on its platform. The lawsuit alleges that “children in Los Angeles County have been repeatedly exposed to sexually explicit content, exploitation, and grooming on Roblox,” and claims the company placed “corporate profit over the safety of children.”
County attorneys argue that although Roblox promotes itself as a safe gaming destination for young users, its structure creates what the lawsuit describes as a “largely unsupervised online world” in which adults and minors can interact with minimal oversight. The complaint states that the platform’s architecture enables adults to pose as children to target minors.
“Roblox portrays its platform as a safe and appropriate place for children to play,” the filing from the LA County Counsel’s office for public nuisance and violations of California’s false advertising law states. “In reality, and as Roblox well knows, the design of its platform makes children easy prey for pedophiles.”
The lawsuit further states: “Beneath the bright animation and cheerful branding lies an environment in which child predators can readily locate, contact, and interact with minors through Roblox-enabled features and defaults, and where age-inappropriate sexual content and sexually themed interactions and experiences can be assessed and disseminated through Roblox’s functionality and tools, leaving minors to navigate dangers they do not and cannot understand.”
Los Angeles County alleges that Roblox failed to introduce adequate safety protections, including age verification systems, default communication limits, and effective reporting tools. The complaint describes those measures as “obvious, easy, and long overdue.”
Filed on Thursday, the lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation of California’s Unfair Competition and False Advertising laws. It also asks that the company pay the county’s legal costs.
The county states it has had to “expend, divert and increase resources to address rising rates of child sexual exploitation, trafficking, abuse and mental health trauma.” According to the complaint, “By taking actions that increase the costs of law enforcement, child protective services, victim services, mental health counseling, and other public services, Roblox has diverted taxpayer dollars away from other critical public programs and services.”
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chair Hilda Solis said, “This lawsuit is about protecting children from online predators and inappropriate content. Roblox has a responsibility to keep kids safe but instead it has allowed its platform to become a place where children can be exposed to grooming and exploitation.”
County lawyer Dawyn R Harrison stated, “This is not about a minor lapse in safety. It is about a company that gives pedophiles powerful tools to prey on innocent and unsuspecting children. The trauma that results is horrific, from grooming to exploitation to actual assault. This needs to stop.”
Roblox has rejected the allegations and said it intends to challenge the case. In a statement, the company said it “strongly dispute[s] the claims in this lawsuit and will defend against it vigorously.”
“Roblox is built with safety at its core, and we continue to evolve and strengthen our protections every day,” a spokesperson said.
The company states that it uses “advanced safeguards” to monitor content and communications on the platform. It also says users cannot send or receive images or videos via chat, describing that restriction as a step that avoids “one of the most prevalent opportunities for misuse seen elsewhere online.”
Roblox states that it takes “swift action against anyone found to violate our safety rules” and works with law enforcement to support investigations and hold offenders accountable.
“There is no finish line when it comes to protecting kids, and while no system can be perfect, our commitment to safety never ends,” the company said.
As of January, Roblox requires users to complete a facial age check before accessing chat features. Chat participants are grouped by age. Parents can decide whether their child may use chat, block specific users or games, and set screen time limits. The company also states that images and videos cannot be exchanged through chat.
The Los Angeles filing follows similar actions in other states. In August, Louisiana sued Roblox, alleging the company had “permitted and perpetuated an online environment in which child predators thrive, directly contributing to the widespread victimization of minor children in Louisiana.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill described the platform as “the perfect place for pedophiles” due to what she alleged was a failure to implement strong safety protocols. Roblox denied those claims and said it would work with the prosecutor’s office to protect children.
In October, Florida issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox and referred to the game as “a breeding ground for predators.”
Another case filed last year involved a California woman who alleged that her teenage son was groomed and pressured into sending explicit images through Roblox and Discord. Attorneys for the mother said the boy was approached by “an adult sex predator” posing as a child on Roblox. The lawsuit states their exchanges escalated into “sexual topics and explicit exchanges.” The man allegedly directed the teen to continue the conversation on Discord, demanded explicit videos and images, and threatened to post them. The suit was filed after the boy died by suicide in April 2024. Both companies said they do not comment on ongoing legal matters. The case remains pending.
In 2024, Hindenburg Research released a report describing Roblox as an “X-rated pedophile hellscape” that exposed children to grooming and pornography. This month, Australia’s government said it was seeking an urgent meeting with the company concerning child safety.
Roblox chief executive David Baszucki also drew criticism after discussing the possibility of introducing betting features within Roblox, stating they could be implemented in an educational context.
Roblox launched in 2006 and reports 144.5 million daily active users, with more than 40% under the age of 13. The platform also states it has recorded over 35 billion engagement hours. Users create, share, and participate in games and experiences using customizable avatars. While access to the platform is free, players can purchase virtual currency for upgrades.
In its most recent shareholder letter for Quarter 4, Roblox reported revenue of $4.9 billion, representing 36% year-over-year growth, and $1.8 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2025. The company attributed that growth to the addition of about 60 million daily active users from Quarter 4 of 2024 to Quarter 4 of 2025.
