US watchdog urged to probe Roblox over child safety and marketing

By Courtney Rozen

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – Two children’s advocacy groups asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to investigate gaming platform Roblox, according to a letter shared with Reuters saying its design features and marketing techniques are “unfair and deceptive.”

• The groups Fairplay and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation asked the FTC to investigate whether Roblox violated the Federal Trade Act’s section 5, according to the letter. The law prohibits unfair or deceptive practices affecting commerce.

• The company is deceiving the public about the safety of its platform, the groups said in the letter. They also said Roblox unfairly pressures young users to spend money to access special in-game privileges.

• The request adds to intensifying scrutiny of Roblox across the world. The company is facing more than 140 ⁠lawsuits in U.S. federal court accusing it of knowingly facilitating child sexual exploitation. The lawsuits accuse Roblox of designing a platform marketed to minors that allows predators to target and contact them.

• Roblox “strongly disputes” the claims in the letter, a spokesperson said. Roblox requires U.S. users to complete an age check to be able to chat with other players, and minors can only chat with other users close to their age, according to Roblox.

• An FTC spokesperson declined to comment.

(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Stephen Coates)