Roblox is currently one of the most played online games in the world, acting as a game development tool and marketplace that allows players to connect and learn together. However, over the past year families have realized potential dangers on the platform. Most prominently the danger reveals itself in the form of predators—who pretend to be fellow children to convince minors to converse with them on different platforms—this being mostly due to Roblox’s failure to install adequate safety features when they’ve been aware of this issue for years.
The possibility of predators posing as minors has gained recent traction. Many lawsuits, including state attorney general lawsuits from the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, were filed over the past year after a situation involving popular Roblox YouTuber Schlep. He is known for conducting sting operations against sexual predators, was banned from the platform and sent a cease-and-desist letter from Roblox threatening legal action if he continued. Many users criticized Roblox’s child safety practices. As a result, U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna contacted Schlep and created a petition with a goal of one million signatures urging Roblox to “do more” and focus on protecting children.
As the controversy grew, individuals and more states also filed lawsuits against Roblox. “#freeschlep” became so big on X that other Roblox content creators quit the affiliate, and even the retired Predator Catcher Chris Henson, showed his support for Schlep in one of his videos saying he’d be open to working with him against predators in the future.
Now, the situation has come back into the spotlight as the affected families have filed for a Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate the lawsuits into one coordinated proceeding.
The JPML hearing took place earlier this month, where the decision was made to consolidate. As such, the case will proceed as a single lawsuit in the Northern District of California that combines the current 42 lawsuits (and any new federal filings that follow) into Multidistrict Litigation, or MDL. This will also be classified as a “class action lawsuit”, giving all the affected families a chance at compensation and placing the case in front of a singular judge for pretrial rulings. This streamlines the process, ensuring consistency, and allowing both sides focus resources on the issues that matter most.
