RoBlocked? Child Safety Concerns Prompt Oklahoma to Take Action
- Hooriyah Kamran
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
The virtual worlds of Roblox are a playground for millions of children, but Oklahoma’s attorney general is preparing a lawsuit that paints a far darker picture: a digital landscape that's rife with predators and mental health risks that the largest gaming powerhouse has failed to adequately control.
Legal counsel for the Attorney General’s Office, Brad Clark, confirmed to ENN that the state is prepared to take legal action to force “behavioral change” at the California-based company, which boasts over 70 million daily active users.
“There’s no higher duty than protecting children, so this is where we are today,” Clark said.
While the AG's office cannot represent individual families in private litigation, Clark emphasized that the state’s mandate covers the collective safety of its residents.
"His duties are vast and broad, but it’s to protect the state of Oklahoma and its citizens,” Clark said of the attorney general. “We are unable to represent individual plaintiffs in private cases, but we can represent the collective, and we do represent the collective interests of children, adults, all Oklahomans.”
The potential lawsuit centers on allegations that Roblox has fostered an environment where minors are easily targeted by adults. Clark, a father of three daughters ages 8, 10 and 14, described the current digital landscape as a minefield for parents.
“The number of online predators … it’s scary,” he said. “There are benefits to all of these things. We all, fair to say, use them in some form, but the number of online predators targeting children, especially, it’s sad, it’s too much.”
Oklahoma officials have expressed skepticism regarding Roblox’s existing safety filters. Clark noted that even basic barriers, such as blocking phone numbers, are easily bypassed by users typing out numbers as words.
“My phone number is 405-420. But my understanding is you can type the word four, F-O-U-R, and get around that,” Clark said. “So, yes, they are implementing new safety protocols, as they should, as they must, but they're not going far enough in our mind at this point. And the obvious response is these things keep happening. So be better with your safety controls. Not to say that they're not trying. “
The state’s investigation follows similar legal pressure in other jurisdictions. Earlier this year, a lawsuit in Louisiana caused a noticeable ripple in the company’s value. Oklahoma officials believe the financial hit was a direct result of the platform’s vulnerabilities being brought to light.
“They're certainly interested in the bottom dollar, which continues to increase,” Clark said. “I know there was a dip at some point when some of these other cases were filed. I believe I saw the Louisiana case, you know, the stock price dipped, which will happen when, you know, exploiting minors is exposed and not having the proper protocols, the safety controls in place.”
Despite recent meetings between Oklahoma officials and Roblox corporate representatives, the state remains unsatisfied with the pace of reform.
“They may be working on additional safety protocols … but not quickly enough,” Clark said. “They must do more. They must do better.”
A core component of the state’s legal theory involves consumer fraud. By marketing the platform as a safe space for families, Oklahoma argues that Roblox may be misleading the public.
“If you tout yourself as being a safe platform for children, and it's not in all instances, far too many it's not, that is perhaps deception or fraud,” Clark said. “Allowing people to think that your product, your platform is safe and you have these controls in place to where my child can be engaging with other children and not with adults who are targeting one of them.”
The Attorney General’s office is seeking a combination of financial penalties and strictly enforced court orders to ensure the platform undergoes a fundamental transformation.
“Behavioral change. We want to see their behavior change in ways that they do more quickly and do better around these safety controls and protecting minors,” Clark said.
If the state moves forward, any settlement or verdict would likely include a “papered up” enforcement plan with massive daily fines for non-compliance. Clark suggested a hypothetical scenario where the company could face $10,000-per-day penalties for missing safety implementation deadlines.
The Attorney General’s office acknowledged that Roblox has begun rolling out new controls recently, but Clark suggested these moves were reactionary, spurred by the threat of Oklahoma’s impending litigation.
“In one sense, I applaud them for implementing and instituting these additional controls, but they're not enough, and it's not happening quickly enough because our children are not only vulnerable, but they're being exploited and targeted and damaged,” Clark said.
Beyond the threat of predators, the state is also highlighting the mental health toll the platform takes on young users, citing issues ranging from cyberbullying to the psychological impact of constant social comparison.
“We know that children are sustaining, are suffering from, mental health issues,” Clark said. “When you see things like that, they leave a lasting impression on a minor's minds --as adults as well. We're not immune. And so we want to see behavioral change so that the Oklahomans, the adults and the minors, the children, do not suffer at the hands of these companies.”
While the legal battle looms, Clark advised Oklahoma parents to remain hyper-vigilant. He suggested that while some parents may choose to ban the app entirely, those who allow it must stay engaged with the evolving parental controls.
“Stay up to date on additional controls that may come out as a result of our lawsuit, if we do go that route, which again, I suspect we will soon. Have awareness, stay up to date and be engaged, ask questions, be attentive,” Clark said.
As the state prepares its final filings, the message to Roblox and other tech giants remains clear.
“Protect children as your number-one interest,” Clark said, “not profits.”
In an August response to the Louisiana lawsuit, Roblox described "erroneous claims and misconceptions" that some critics have of the platform, as well as the company's safety record involving minors.
"Every day, tens of millions of people around the world use Roblox to learn STEM skills, play, and imagine and have a safe experience on our platform. Any assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is simply untrue," the company said in a statement posted to its website. "No system is perfect and bad actors adapt to evade detection, including efforts to take users to other platforms, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ. We continuously work to block those efforts and to enhance our moderation approaches to promote a safe, enjoyable environment for all users."
Among the new safety measures the company said it has taken is using "age estimation technology" to confirm users' ages through uploading quick, selfie-style videos.
