Latest news with #DolmanLawGroup
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Real-life nightmare for kids.' ‘Roblox' faces multiple lawsuits over child safety
'Roblox' faced a wave of new lawsuits this week that allege the popular gaming platform hasn't done enough to safeguard kids from pedophiles and sexual content. One of the latest complaints, filed in a federal court in the Northern District of California, claims that a predator posed as a child on the platform and sexually exploited a 10-year-old in Michigan. The man, who isn't named in the lawsuit, allegedly convinced the victim to send sexually explicit images of herself after sharing some of himself. The 10-year-old, who is anonymous in the lawsuit, met the predator last year on 'Roblox' and suffered from mental health issues including anxiety, according to the complaint filed Thursday. 'What Roblox represents as a safe, appropriate space for children is, in fact, a digital and real-life nightmare for kids,' the lawsuit, filed by Dolman Law Group, stated. Kids and teens create, explore and socialize in virtual spaces on 'Roblox,' but the gaming platform has continued to grapple with child safety concerns over as its user numbers and revenue grow. On average, 111.8 million users visit the platform daily. The San Mateo-based company's share price closed down more than 6% at $117.34 on Friday. 'The assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue,' Roblox spokesperson Kadia Koroma said in a statement. 'While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards—such as restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing—to help protect our community. Unfortunately, bad actors will try to circumvent our systems to try to direct users off the platform, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ.' In early August, the company said it's using artificial intelligence to help detect 'child endangerment communications' earlier and alert law enforcement. The lawsuit is among a flurry of new complaints this year that accuse the gaming platform of prioritizing its profits over the safety of its users. On Thursday, Louisiana Atty. Gen. Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against Roblox over child safety concerns. 'Roblox' is also under political pressure. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, has been urging people on social media to sign a petition asking the company to do more to protect children on the platform. Since July, Dolman Law Group has filed five lawsuits against 'Roblox' in courts in California, Georgia and Texas. Matthew Dolman, a Florida lawyer who is a managing partner at the law firm, said a sixth lawsuit is being filed on Friday. The lawsuits point to several steps 'Roblox' could have taken to make the platform safer, such as verifying ages through facial recognition, clearly warning parents about sexual predators and putting a higher age rating for its app. 'This is just the wild west,' Dolman said in an interview. 'It's like a hunting ground for predators.' The company, he said, misrepresents how safe the platform is to both its users and shareholders. 'Roblox' profits from transaction fees when predators offer children Robux, a digital currency used on the gaming platform, in exchange for sexually explicit photos, according to the federal lawsuit filed on Thursday. Predators will also tell children they won't release these photos if they hand over Robux, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint cites a Hindenburg Research report published last year that stated there were inappropriate games on 'Roblox' that researchers were able to access by registering as a child. Some of those experiences were modeled after criminal conduct by child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 'Roblox' rebutted claims made in the report and said it invested heavily in its trust and safety efforts, noting that it has rules against child exploitation on its platform. The risk of sextortion, especially among young people, is a growing problem, child advocates say. Roughly 1 in 5 teenagers experienced sextortion, according to a report from Thorn, a child safety nonprofit. Sextortionists have used a variety of platforms, including social media and gaming platforms such as 'Roblox,' 'Minecraft' and 'Fortnite,' to threaten victims.
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business Insider
Roblox accused of being a 'hunting ground' for child predators as legal firestorm against gaming giant intensifies
Roblox has been slammed as a "hunting ground for child-sex predators" in a new lawsuit against the online gaming giant that alleges it caused the sexual exploitation of a 9-year-old boy. The lawsuit, filed late last week in a Georgia state court by an anonymous DeKalb County mother and her young son, accuses Roblox of negligence as well as prioritizing growth over child safety. It follows a recent wave of similar lawsuits lodged against the $90 billion company that accuse the popular gaming platform of not doing enough to safeguard children from pedophiles. In a statement to Business Insider on Tuesday, a Roblox spokesperson said, "We are deeply troubled by any incident that endangers our users, and safety is a top priority." "We dedicate substantial resources, including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to help detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior, including attempts to direct users off platform, where safety standards and moderation may be less stringent than ours," the spokesperson said. The latest lawsuit alleges that these predators harassed the boy for months and ultimately "extorted" him to send sexually explicit images and videos to his friends at school. As a result, the boy has "suffered devastating and life-altering psychological trauma" and was eventually required to change schools, the lawsuit says. "Had Defendant implemented even the most basic system of age and identity verification, as well as effective parental controls, Plaintiff would never have engaged with this predator and never been harmed," the lawsuit says. In July, Roblox announced a new age verification system, which includes an age estimation tool based on a selfie-style video, for users who want to chat back-and-forth with so-called "trusted connections." "If the system estimates that a user is actually under 13, then we will automatically correct the user's age to under 13 and remove access to features that are not appropriate," Roblox says on its website. The Georgia mother's attorney, Matthew Dolman of the Florida-based firm Dolman Law Group, told Business Insider that he expects even more lawsuits to be filed in the near future and that his firm is currently investigating over 300 incidents on behalf of prospective claimants. "Roblox has materially misrepresented that its product is safe on multiple occasions knowing full well that law enforcement investigations resulting in arrests of sexual predators are occurring nationwide," Dolman said. Nearly 40% of Roblox's user base is under 13 Roblox, a top gaming platform among children and teens, hosts millions of user-generated games called "experiences" that range from racing to horror-themed. The Georgia lawsuit, which seeks a jury trial and an unspecified amount in monetary damages, says that Roblox hosts a "staggering number" of games centered on simulated sexual activity. The court documents also cited some games with titles like "Survive Diddy" and "Escape to Epstein Island" in reference to hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was recently convicted of two prostitution-related federal charges, and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. When Roblox announced its latest earnings in July, the company reported an average of 111.8 million daily active users with a user base of nearly 40% under the age of 13. The latest lawsuit — which includes identical pages of allegations cited in separate, but similar lawsuits against Roblox — said the Georgia boy is just "one of countless children whose lives have been devastated" thanks to Roblox's "gross negligence and defectively designed app." The Roblox spokesperson told Business Insider: "While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards, including restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing, and prohibiting sexual conversations." "We also partner with law enforcement and leading child safety organizations worldwide to combat the sexual exploitation of children," the spokesperson said. Roblox recently deployed an open-source AI-powered system called Sentinel that it says was designed to help detect any early indicators of child endangerment interactions. The AI system, the company said, helped it submit about 1,200 reports of potential attempts at child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the first half of the year. Roblox has faced at least five more lawsuits this year alleging the sexual exploitation of children. The lawsuits come after an October 2024 report by the prominent short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Roblox of being an "X-rated pedophile hellscape" and "exposing children to grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech." The group-chatting platform Discord has been named as a co-defendant in those other lawsuits, all filed by the same Pennsylvania-based personal injury law firm, Anapol Weiss. A Discord spokesperson told Business Insider that the company does not comment on ongoing litigation, but said, "Any content or behavior that endangers younger users is not allowed on Discord." "Discord is deeply committed to safety and we require all users to be at least 13 to use our platform," the spokesperson said. "Using a range of technological and human moderation approaches, we work hard to proactively detect and remove content that violates our policies, report violations to NCMEC, and maintain robust systems to prevent sexual exploitation and grooming." One lawsuit filed last month in a California federal court alleges that a 14-year-old girl was groomed on Roblox by an adult predator masquerading as another teen. The complaint says the conversation between them moved over to Discord where the man repeatedly sent sexually explicit messages and photographs. The lawsuit says the man eventually lured the Alabama girl from her home and attempted to sexually assault her. Police intervened and the man was arrested, the lawsuit says.
Malaysian Reserve
22-07-2025
- Malaysian Reserve
Dolman Law Group Files Suit Against Roblox, Discord After 11-Year-Old Child Violently Raped by Predatory User
Lawsuit claims wildly popular apps are negligent in providing safeguards for children, creating breeding grounds for predators SAN MATEO, Calif., July 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A shocking lawsuit has been filed against Roblox Corporation and Discord, Inc. (Defendants) following heinous sexual acts committed against a minor it claims were fostered and facilitated by the California-based app giants. Filed on July 17, 2025, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Mateo, Dolman Law Group alleges the corporations are accountable for creating a breeding ground for predators and enabling the sexual exploitation of an 11-year-old girl, identified as Jane Doe R.M. (Plaintiff) of Miami-Dade County, FL. At the time she was victimized, 11-year-old Jane Doe R.M. was an avid user of both Roblox and Discord, two wildly popular apps amongst minors. Believing there were proper safeguards in place, Jane Doe R.M.'s mother allowed Jane Doe R.M. to use the apps trusting Roblox and Discord's representations of child safety. During her daughter's usage of the apps, she unknowingly encountered a dangerous child predator who began grooming Jane Doe R.M. Eventually gaining her trust, the predator escalated his manipulations and encouraged Jane Doe R.M. to meet in-person. He violently raped her, causing inconceivable trauma, harm and devastation. The predator was subsequently convicted of his violent crimes. 'As a parent, this case is a terrifying reminder of the world we live in where capitalist greed far outweighs humanity,' said Matthew Dolman, Principal of the Florida-based Dolman Law Group. 'In allowing apps of these kinds to operate with virtually no restrictions, monitoring or age verification processes in place, we open 'worlds' designed for children to depraved individuals with unimaginable intentions and all the resources at their fingertips.' The lawsuit alleges through pervasive misrepresentations about safety, the apps instill an unfounded sense of safety in parents when in reality the design of their platforms make children easy and accessible prey for pedophiles. Lauded as the '#1 gaming site for kids and teens,' Roblox is the 'most downloaded online game globally' where 'the average user spends 139 minutes a day on the app.' Within the 'digital playground,' the lawsuit cites, Roblox hosts and promotes graphic and sexually explicit content. The filing alleges that Roblox is fully aware of these 'experiences' and does nothing to stop them, playing a direct role in enabling a culture where sexual exploitation is normalized in the underdeveloped and impressionable minds of children. With the ability to control and eliminate these heinous threats, Roblox prioritizes growing its number of users – therefore its profits – over child safety and protecting our most vulnerable communities. The Plaintiff's lawsuit seeks an action of unspecified monetary damages from the Defendants for suffering profound life-alerting damages.
