Nowadays, it seems like Roblox is always in the news, and not for good reasons, either. Our firm has already filed numerous lawsuits against Roblox for the egregious acts of sexual exploitation and abuse that were committed through its platform as a result of its negligence and lax safety measures.
However, despite these many lawsuits and even reports that have referred to Roblox as a “pedophile hellscape,” it didn’t stop Roblox CEO David Baszucki from announcing future plans of adding a dating component to the platform.
Roblox CEO Announces Plans for Dating Feature, Considers Platform to be a Place of Connection
For nearly 20 years, Roblox has been known as a gaming platform for kids. While it’s always been popular, it hit its biggest wave of success during the COVID-19 pandemic where it gained over 120 million active users. Though it can be played by anyone, Roblox has historically been popular among children, notably those 13 and under. In fact, nearly 40 million daily active users are under the age 13 according to recent statistics.
However, CEO David Baszucki thinks of Roblox not as a gaming platform but as a wellness platform. When asked to elaborate while a guest on the TechStuff podcast, Baszucki said, “You have young people who are going through a mental health crisis and finding people on Roblox to connect with. It sounds gratuitous of me to say but I have parents saying, ‘My kid is alive because they found people on Roblox.’”
The mother of Ethan Dallas would disagree.
Ethan was just 12 years old when he was targeted by an adult sexual predator, who disguised his identity to befriend Ethan. Once he gained Ethan’s trust, this predator coerced him into sharing explicit images. Ethan died by suicide three years later after being groomed on the platform.
These types of cases are tragic but unfortunately, not isolated.
According to Baszucki, there’s a "loneliness epidemic going on in the world.” However, Roblox doesn’t fill that gap, it exploits it. Ethan turned to Roblox for social interactions and fun. Instead of gaining same-age connections, he encountered grooming that tragically claimed his life and changed his family’s world in an instant.
For Baszucki, the push to eventually turn Roblox into a dating platform stems from two main goals. First is the desire to help the “loneliness epidemic.” Per Baszucki, “People who might be afraid to go on a real life date might find it easier to have a virtual date to start and if they connect, move to the physical world.”
The second is to keep children who are aging out of Roblox on the platform.
While Baszucki says that the dating component would only be available to verifiable users aged 21 years and up, the reality is that Roblox’s current age verification measures don’t even work now. And as a result, innocent children are being harmed.
Baszucki Makes Alarming Statements on Podcast
The idea that Roblox could be positioned as a wellness platform to bridge connection isn’t the only startling omission to be revealed during the podcast.
When asked about the Bloomberg story that highlighted Roblox as a “pedophile platform,” Baszucki doubled down, claiming that Roblox was a safer alternative for children than other platforms. “We don’t want them [players] going on any other device or platform where, unfortunately, if a young person has access to a phone, they can share pictures of themselves or share their phone number or address.”
Per Baszucki, Roblox doesn’t allow unfiltered texts or image sharing. However, as a number of lawsuits have revealed, many of these predators move conversations off Roblox and onto Discord, where coercion usually ramps up. Even as it pertains to text filters, Roblox does not have enough staff to sufficiently monitor everything that’s being said. Furthermore, many predators have found easy workarounds, replacing symbols for letters to ask invasive and inappropriate questions to young players.
What was perhaps most eye opening in this exchange between Baszucki and the host was when he said it’s “very very hard to meet on Discord today.” In most of the lawsuits our firm has filed against Roblox, Discord has also been named due to its involvement in the sexual exploitation and abuse these innocent children have suffered.
Bottom line: It’s not “very, very hard” for Roblox predators to coerce children to get onto Discord. In fact, it’s very easy because they implement a psychological tactic called grooming.
During the grooming process, predators not only gain a child’s trust but isolate them from their loved ones, making them easier to manipulate and control. Again, the average Roblox player is a teen, usually 13 years and younger. What makes Baszucki’s comments even worse is that he appears to be victim blaming, stating “Some kids who are in a vulnerable state try to figure out how to share or somehow get off of Roblox.”
Predators can identify children who are in a vulnerable state. That’s why they prey on them.
By the end of the podcast, Baszucki claims his job is “driven by a higher level of morality and ethics,” and that parents should always trust their intuition. If they don’t want their kids on Roblox, then they shouldn’t allow them to be there.
At least that’s a sentiment we can agree with.
Roblox is a dangerous platform that causes real harm to children. Games are supposed to offer a break from reality and a safe place to unwind and have fun. But when it comes to Roblox, nothing could be further from the truth. This platform has weak safety measures that have irrevocably turned the lives of innocent children and their families upside down.
The CEO of Roblox may not want to take accountability. But at Anapol Weiss, we’re pushing for it.
If you suspect that your child was groomed on Roblox or Discord, contact us immediately. We’re not backing down in this fight and we will secure justice for your loved one.
Similar Post: When Roleplay Turns to Risk: Why Roblox “Neighborhood” Games Are Breeding Grounds for Grooming and Abuse
Disclaimer: This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. It should not be considered as legal advice. For personalized legal assistance, please consult our team directly.
