Roblox Settles With Three States For $35.8 Million Over Child Safety

Roblox Corp. has reached settlements with attorneys general in three states over child-safety protections.

As part of the deals, the video game company pledged to curb dangerous interactions on its platform, according to statements from the offices of the attorneys general in West Virginia, Alabama and Nevada. A portion of the money from the settlements, which total $35.8 million, will go to safety education for children.

“Roblox, for a long time, was not a safe place for kids,” West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said in an interview. McCuskey said he and his team “were able to form a relationship with the people at Roblox,” and over the course of their discussions, he told the company: “Either you’ll work with us and do what you need to do to keep West Virginian kids safe, or this will end up in litigation.”

Roblox has become a global gaming phenomenon with millions of user-generated games available on its site where teens and kids converge to play and socialize. The platform has also struggled to keep predators away and has been sued by multiple jurisdictions and individual families claiming it has failed to adequately protect children. The company has implemented dozens of safety updates over the past year or so. Earlier this month, Roblox introduced special accounts designed specifically for younger children and teens.

West Virginia secured an $11.1 million settlement on Tuesday, the same day Alabama announced its $12.2 million settlement. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced the state’s $12.5 million settlement last week.

The West Virginia settlement “serves as an important blueprint for how the technology industry and regulators can work together pro-actively to help protect the next generation,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in a statement. “We have no finish line when it comes to safety, and we will continue to invest heavily in our people, processes, and technology to protect our community.”

Statements from the offices of the attorneys general emphasized Roblox’s promise to verify the ages of all users and limit adults’ ability to contact people under 16.

Attorneys general for Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, Florida and Nebraska still have ongoing child-safety suits against Roblox. Asked for comment on the status of that litigation, Phil Buehler, the press secretary for the office of Tennessee Attorney General, said his office “sued Roblox and continues to litigate our case.” The other states’ representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg News