Roblox loses bid to halt L.A. County lawsuit alleging child sex exploitation
RBLX•A judge rejected Roblox’s bid to dismiss Los Angeles County’s lawsuit alleging the company failed to protect young users from predators and sexual exploitation. The judge said Section 230 and First Amendment protections do not bar the claims over Roblox’s age verification.
1. Lawsuit moves forward
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dean Kitchens rejected Roblox’s bid to dismiss the county’s lawsuit. The county alleges Roblox does little to verify users’ ages, allowing children and adults to interact on the platform with little oversight.
2. Claims and company changes
The judge said the age-verification claims do not concern third-party posts protected by Section 230 and that Roblox’s age-verification choices are not expressive features protected by the First Amendment. Roblox said earlier this year it was introducing facial age checks for chat access, age-based accounts with more restrictions and expanded parental controls.
3. Other cases and settlements
The county filed its lawsuit in February, alleging Roblox contributed to child sex trafficking and exploitation and created a public nuisance. Roblox previously agreed to pay more than $30 million and make changes to children’s access to its gaming and chat functions to settle investigations by attorneys general in Alabama, West Virginia and Nevada. Roblox and Discord face more than 180 individual lawsuits over related claims.
