Florida Attorney General James Usmeyer has issued a criminal subpoena to Roblox, the widely used online gaming platform, as part of an investigation into whether the company’s platform allows sexual predators to target children.
“Platforms like Roblox have become breeding grounds for predators to access children,” Usmayer said in a statement. “We will stop at nothing to fight to protect Florida’s children and hold businesses accountable that put them in harm’s way.”
The purpose of the subpoena is to determine whether Roblox’s practices, or lack of adequate safeguards, contributed to child exploitation. Investigators are looking into reports that criminals used the platform to communicate with minors, exchange explicit material and solicit illegal images using the game’s virtual currency, Robux.
Critics have accused Roblox of not properly verifying users’ ages or implementing effective content moderation tools. Some victims claim the company ignored warnings about child safety risks while continuing to promote itself as a safe platform for young players.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, additional reports suggest that Roblox may have failed to notify law enforcement of incidents involving child exploitation.
Roblox, which has millions of daily users, many of them children, has faced increased scrutiny in recent years over safety issues. The Florida Attorney General’s investigation marks one of the most aggressive state-level actions against the platform to date.
