This is a new one on me.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the online gaming platform Roblox for allegedly exposing children to sexually explicit content and exploitation, the latest in a flurry of lawsuits from his office aimed at big business.
Texas is the third state to sue Roblox, after Kentucky and Louisiana, on the grounds that the company is not sufficiently protecting minors. Dozens of private suits have been filed in the last few months as well, primarily by families who say their children were sexually abused, exploited or exposed to inappropriate content while using the gaming platform.
On Thursday, a California judge ruled that a high-profile lawsuit against Roblox must proceed in the public eye, after the company tried to handle it in private arbitration.
In a statement, Roblox said it shares Paxton’s commitment to keeping kids and teens safe online and pointed to “industry-leading protocols” it had employed to protect users.
“We are disappointed that, rather than working collaboratively with Roblox on this industry-wide challenge and seeking real solutions, the AG has chosen to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations and sensationalized claims,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
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In 2023, Texas lawmakers strengthened laws requiring social media platforms to protect minors from inappropriate content online. That legislation is still fighting its way through the courts and parts have been blocked for being unconstitutionally vague.
But Paxton has used the remaining provisions of the law to bring lawsuits against TikTok and now, Roblox. The litigation against TikTok is ongoing.
The Roblox lawsuit is filed in West Texas’ King County, the second least populous county in Texas with just 265 residents and no incorporated communities. One judge, Jennifer Habert, hears cases in King County, as well as three others.
My kids are a little too old for Roblox, so I have no context for any of this. Here’s more on the Louisiana and Kentucky cases, plus Roblox’s response to Louisiana, and here’s more on that California case, which was initiated by an individual and not an AG. For more on the SCOPE Act, see here, here, and here.
I have no reason to trust Roblox, but I wouldn’t trust Ken Paxton to pass me the gravy at Thanksgiving, so there’s a lot to keep in mind here. Also, too, filing in King County, population 265, reeks of judge-shopping. I don’t know enough about Judge Habert to say, but there has to be some reason for this. We’ll see how it goes.