Roblox stock took a hit amid controversy over child safety, lawsuits, and bans | #childsafety | #kids | #chldern | #parents | #schoolsafey

When I think about Roblox, I picture an unstoppable juggernaut of kids building, trading, and role-playing in virtual worlds. For years, the platform has dominated with little challenge, cementing its place as a cultural force among the young players. Now, new pressures are testing the product and the reputation it has built over those years.

Just this past week, shares of the company slid more than 6%. Analysts linked the drop to the latest controversy surrounding child safety and the platform’s handling of one of its most outspoken community figures, a YouTuber named Schlep.

Schlep is a 22-year-old YouTuber with 850,000 subscribers who built a following by posing as kids on Roblox to lure and confront alleged predators. Some of his videos racked up millions of views, and he even claims to have helped police make multiple arrests.

But Roblox saw him differently. About a week ago, Schlep revealed he had been hit with a cease-and-desist order and a permanent ban. The company says he broke its rules by simulating child endangerment conversations, sharing personal information, and pushing users to move chats off-platform.

His fans were quick to push back, even staging in-game protests with avatars chanting “Free Schlep.” In a not-so-surprising fashion, Roblox doubled down in response.

The company published a statement last Wednesday, saying “vigilante” users like Schlep may be well-intentioned, but their actions can end up looking “similar to actual predators” when they impersonate children and seek out adult players.

To be fair, I can see the concern. Still, for a platform where roughly 36% of its 111 million daily active users are kids, the optics aren’t great, especially from an investor’s point of view.

Banning a user who claims to protect kids, especially given Roblox’s history of predators slipping through its cracks, is fueling fears that the company is on the wrong side of a PR firestorm. Roblox even went as far as banning players and custom maps tied to the “Free Schlep” movement.

What makes this clash even messier is that Roblox actually has one of the most advanced AI-driven safety systems in the industry, called Sentinel. Yet the company seems quicker to punish whistleblowers like Schlep than to be transparent about how it applies its own tools.

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The State of Louisiana Sues Roblox Over Child Safety

The Schlep controversy wasn’t the only thing dragging Roblox’s stock down. Another major hit came last week when Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit accusing the company of prioritising “growth and profits over child safety.”

The lawsuit pointed to disturbing user-made maps like Escape to Epstein Island, Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe, and Diddy Party, as proof that Roblox hasn’t done enough to protect its youngest players. It also cites a Louisiana man accused of possessing child sexual abuse material who allegedly used Roblox while disguising his voice to sound like a young girl.

The lawsuit also claims CEO David Baszucki actively encourages adult-oriented content while leaving kids vulnerable. And considering Roblox has no age verification or parental permission required, that argument hits hard.

This is where Roblox draws the harshest comparisons. Epic Games’ Fortnite and Microsoft’s Minecraft have stricter age-gating systems and clearer parental control options, which regulators are now pointing to as examples that Roblox should be following.

Is Roblox Getting Banned

With all the controversy and the lawsuit in Louisiana, the question of whether Roblox could actually get banned is starting to pop up. Well, it’s already happening in some parts of the world.

Just a few days before Louisiana filed its lawsuit, the country of Qatar outright banned Roblox, citing concerns similar to those raised in the U.S. Last year, Turkey did the same, and that ban is still in place, with officials calling the platform a threat to child safety and morals.

There’s no sign of Roblox being banned in the U.S. yet, but the pressure is clearly mounting. I believe the UK could become the next major battleground due to its new Online Safety Act.

Even if the game isn’t banned there, Roblox will almost certainly face stricter requirements like mandatory age verification, something Xbox already rolled out earlier this summer.

For now, Roblox remains accessible to its massive global audience, but the growing list of bans and regulatory threats shows the company may have to make big changes if it wants to keep that access.

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