Roblox under fire for 'not doing enough to protect kids' as Congressman Ro Khanna launches petition
— RealSchlep (@RealSchlep)
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Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California's 17th Congressional District and serves on committees including Oversight and Accountability, has launched an online petition against Roblox , a popular gaming platform for kids, to implement stronger safeguards for children on its platform, accusing the company of 'not doing enough to protect kids'.'Khanna, whose district includes Roblox's headquarters in San Mateo County, cited concerns over inappropriate content, online predators, and insufficient moderation.RealSchlep, a YouTuber with more than 7,50,000 subscribers, has recently drawn attention for his self-described mission to expose alleged predators on Roblox, claiming his work has resulted in six arrests. However, Roblox banned his account and issued a cease-and-desist order, alleging he broke platform rules by staging simulated child-endangerment chats and disclosing private user data.Schlep countered that he repeatedly sent Roblox's safety team evidence of predatory behavior but received little to no meaningful action in return, accusing the company of failing to protect its young users despite his attempts to assist in removing dangerous individuals from the platform.Schlep says Congressman Khanna has reached out to him and is pressing Roblox to be more transparent about its child safety measures. In a video the YouTuber posted on X, Khanna announced he has launched a petition to do more to protect children, provide more support to parents, and strengthen law enforcement protocols that help bring predators to justice."There is a growing issue in our country with Roblox, an online gaming platform, and the abuse of children. Roblox is simply not doing enough to protect our kids, inform parents, and go after child predators," Khanna said in the video.Khanna urged the public to sign a petition demanding Roblox 'do more' to protect children, setting a goal of 1 million signatures by Friday, August 15. "We need to keep our kids safe online," he said.Khanna's involvement has heightened pressure on Roblox, signaling the platform could face stricter regulations or legal action. With over 380 million monthly active users - most of them children and teens- Roblox has already been targeted by multiple negligence lawsuits.According to hypefresh.com, recent cases include a 13-year-old Iowa girl allegedly abducted after being groomed on the platform, an 11-year-old Florida girl raped by a predator she met there, and a 13-year-old California boy coerced into sending explicit images.The lawsuits argue that Roblox's chat features and virtual currency, Robux, create opportunities for predators to exploit young users.
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