Roblox Under Investigation for Child Safety
Roblox is once again facing scrutiny over child safety, as the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism opened a bipartisan investigation into the platform yesterday.
A letter sent to Roblox CEO David Baszucki from Senators Josh Hawley (R‑MO) and Dick Durbin (D‑IL) outlines serious concerns.
The letter notes that, despite Roblox’s claim of being a safe playground for children as young as five, police have arrested many individuals for violent crimes against children they met on the site, including grooming, sexual abuse, kidnapping, rape and murder.
The platform has also been used to trade child sexual abuse material, host explicit and violent virtual experiences with children, extort minors into creating explicit content, and lure them into in‑person meetings.
In 2025, Roblox reported 65,381 suspected child exploitation cases to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, more than double the 2024 figure.
The letter warns that Roblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement over child safety and demands the company preserve all records related to abuse and answer a series of questions and produce documents by August 31.
The inquiries cover revenue per age group, user hours, accounts linked to inappropriate behavior, and protective measures.
This probe follows years of reports linking Roblox to child harm.
In 2021, People Make Games highlighted financial exploitation, while a 2024 Bloomberg investigation detailed sexual exploitation.
Additional reports have shown the platform being used to spread extremist ideology, connect with real‑world violence, and even facilitate murder.
Roblox has issued numerous statements and introduced changes such as expanded parental controls and age‑based accounts to protect younger users.
Yet, with more than 80 million daily players worldwide—about 40 percent under 13—and over 65,000 abuse reports in 2025, the safety concerns remain stark.
“Roblox is built on the foundation of safety,” said chief safety officer Matt Kaufman in a statement shared with Kotaku. “We do not compromise on that commitment. We look forward to sharing the facts about how we work to protect children on the platform.”
