MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – The State of Alabama will get $12.2 million in what Attorney General Steve Marshall is calling a “substantial settlement” from gaming platform Roblox related to online child safety.
The settlement with Roblox will allow the state to make “meaningful improvements to online child safety and boots-on-the-ground resources for Alabama’s schoolchildren,” the AG’s office said.
Roblox has come under intense pressure to address safety concerns, which have prompted lawsuits from multiple states.
At least three Alabama families have sued Roblox in recent months, claiming the platform failed to protect children from predators who used the games to groom minors.
“I thought it was very innocent. I thought other kids were on there and that was a way for her to socialize,” a south Alabama mother said in an interview with WBRC in December.
In another instance, media reports indicate a California family sued in August after their 10-year-old daughter was abducted.
Marshall called it a framework that other states can follow.
As one of the first such settlements in the nation, Alabama negotiated directly with Roblox over the course of several months and, because it was handled internally, no fees will go to outside law firms.
That means all the money will go toward funding school resource officers across the state through the AG’s Safe Schools Initiative, Marshall said.
Watch the full news conference below:
Marshall’s office laid out some of the steps that will take place as part of the agreement. Those include:
- AGE VERIFICATION: A requirement that all Roblox users must undergo age verification to ensure children have access only to age-appropriate content on the platform.
- TECHNOLOGY USED: A commitment from Roblox to use facial age estimation technology and government- issued ID for age confirmation and use of behavioral monitoring to identify users who may have been aged incorrectly.
Marshall says the Roblox settlement “explicitly addresses privacy concerns related to age verification.”
- PARENTAL CONTROLS: Parents will have expanded control over their children’s use of the platform under the agreement. The expansion of parental controls allows parents to decide who their children are talking to and the games they are playing on the platform as well as restrict the transfer of in-game currency (Robux) from adults other than trusted connections.
- In the absence of a parent account, the default content mode provides protections to minor users.
- CHAT RULES: Adult users and users under 16 will not be able to chat unless they are identified as a “trusted friend” on the platform. Trusted friends for users under 13 require parental consent.
- Unless a parent elects otherwise, users between 13 and 15 years old may add trusted friends through a QR code or phone contact importer.
- ENCRYPTION CLAUSE: Under the agreement, Roblox will not allow communication involving minors to be encrypted. Unencrypted communication allows law enforcement to be able to more easily combat child exploitation networks, trafficking, and the distribution of illegal and harmful content.
- Roblox has committed to conducting workshops and awareness campaigns for the state of Alabama and local law enforcement, as well as establishing a liaison position that will provide state law enforcement with communication channels to quickly investigate and address safety concerns like online child exploitation.
“While parents will always play the primary role in protecting their children online, we are raising the bar on what we expect from gaming platforms—parents need a partner, not a black box,” Marshall said. “This is the beginning of a new standard, and Alabama will aggressively enforce it.”
Marshall’s office is setting up an email address to report concerns with Roblox: Roblox@alabamaag.gov.
Roblox has previously stated that it takes instances of illicit activity seriously and reports them to law enforcement.
It has also previously noted that it uses AI to automatically detect language in chats that could be deemed illicit or criminal, along with thousands of trained professionals to monitor its platform.
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