What is Roblox? All about the game and its controversies as it introduces Adult Only section amid growing child safety concerns

Roblox, an online gaming platform, is currently one of the most popular games, with 70 million daily active users, half of whom are under 13. The company faced criticism over child safety, predator concerns, and leadership accountability, even leading to a petition calling for the CEO's resignation. In response, Roblox has now launched an adult-only section to address these issues and the backlash.

Dexerto

@Dexerto

Roblox has announced new age restrictions that will bar players under 18 from seeing, accessing, or creating 18+ content​This comes after Chris Hansen began an investigation into Roblox for child safety concerns

The company announced a new policy effective August 28, 2025, stating that experiences labeled with the Restricted 18+ tag will only be accessible to players who are at least 18 years old. The previous content age limit was set at 17 years and above.

With this policy change, "restricted" games will no longer appear in search results or recommendations. Only adult developers will be allowed to publish new "Restricted" projects, while developers under 18 can only view and update their existing projects. By the end of the year, gamers under 18 will no longer have full access to games with restricted content.

Predator hunting YouTuber banned by Roblox

Schlep, a YouTuber who gained over 600,000 subscribers by pretending to be a child gamer to expose pedophiles, was banned by Roblox earlier this month. According to Schlep, his efforts led to at least six arrests.

However, according to Roblox, his actions were deemed vigilantism, involving "simulated child endangerment conversations" that included requesting private details and urging players to conduct their discussions off the platform. The company issued a cease-and-desist letter and permanently banned him from the game.

This angered many fans and people because they believed that Roblox was silencing someone actively protecting children, which caused the backlash the company faced in the following days.

Chris Hansen, from NBC's To Catch a Predator, revealed that he is collaborating with Schlep to address this issue and raise awareness. He also mentioned that he is working on a documentary investigating Roblox's handling of abuse reports.

Community backlash and legal pressure

Roblox's handling of safety concerns has triggered a wave of protests and legal actions. Just two days ago, the petition calling for CEO David Baszucki to resign surpassed 250,000 signatures, claiming that he has failed to protect underage users. The company also faced legal trouble when it was sued by the Louisiana Attorney General, who described the platform as a "haven for predators" and accused it of ignoring abuse reports and failing to implement adequate safety measures.

Families across the United States have filed lawsuits alleging that the company facilitated child exploitation. It also included cases where the children were coerced into sharing explicit photos.

According to Rolling Stone, over a dozen cases are still pending as critics argue that the company only responded after facing backlash from the community, journalists, and the public.

The company defends itself and introduces Roblox Sentinel

The company defends itself by saying it works closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI, and law enforcement. Authorities insist that to avoid interfering with legitimate investigations, vigilante creators like Schlep must be banned.

In response to the Louisiana Attorney General, the company stated in a press release:

Any assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is simply untrue. 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.”

The company has now introduced Roblox Sentinel, an AI-powered tool designed to identify questionable activity.

To which Schlep's attorney, Steven Vanderporten, claims that the company is "covering up their tracks, trying to silence their critics.”:

“They have had 20 years of these incidents happening, 20 years of notice, 20 years of opportunities to implement safeguards that they’re now rolling out, and they’re on a big PR campaign saying how much they’re focused on safety features.”

Recently, Chief Product Officer Manuel Bronstein resigned. Despite facing all this backlash and criticism, Roblox's share price has risen. In the most recent quarter, the company's stock price increased 46%, which was much higher than the overall tech industry trends.

Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.

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