Lawsuit Alleges Roblox, Discord Apps Work Together To Enable Child Sexual Abuse

Complaint joins dozens of similar lawsuits filed over sexual predators exploiting young users by grooming them on Roblox and continuing the abuse on Discord.

An Oklahoma mother’s lawsuit accuses Roblox and Discord of failing to put proper protections in place after her teen daughter was groomed and manipulated by a predator using the two apps earlier this year.

The complaint (PDF) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on November 24, naming both Roblox Corporation and Discord Inc. as defendants. The plaintiff is a woman identified only as Jane Doe S.K., representing her minor daughter, which the lawsuit identifies as Jane Doe E.K.

Roblox is a popular online gaming platform launched in 2006 that allows users to design and play games within shared virtual worlds. Players can interact with each other through customizable avatars using in-game purchases via a currency known as Robux.

Discord is a communication app that lets users interact through text, voice and video in separate virtual servers. Originally built for gamers, it now hosts communities spanning art, fandoms, education and social issues.

According to S.K.’s complaint, both platforms have portrayed themselves as safe, family-friendly environments, yet similar Roblox child sexual abuse lawsuits filed nationwide describe a pattern of children being groomed on Roblox and then further exploited on Discord. Parents in these cases report nearly identical experiences, often discovering that a predator first approached their child in a Roblox game and then shifted communication to Discord to intensify grooming, solicit explicit images or engage in blackmail.

In the most serious instances, predators allegedly used the platforms to arrange in-person meetings, leading to sexual assault and, in some cases, attempted trafficking.

According to the lawsuit, E.K. had used Roblox for years, and her mother believed it was safe for her daughter after seeing promotions and other materials claiming it was safe for children. However, earlier this year, her daughter was targeted by a sexual predator.

Her mother indicates that the predator had initially approached E.K. on Roblox, pretending to be of a similar age, which kept Roblox’s systems from failing to detect and prevent the interaction. He then convinced E.K. to chat with him privately on Discord, which also failed to stop or detect the activity. The predator used Discord to send E.K. explicit images and videos of himself and encouraged her to do the same, sometimes giving her Robux in return. When S.K.’s daughter hesitated, the predator threatened to commit suicide.

“Soon after Plaintiff was sexually threatened, exploited, and extorted because of Defendants’ defectively designed apps, she lost self-confidence and became severely withdrawn. Plaintiff has continued to experience intrusive thoughts and anxiety about the exploitation she suffered due to Defendants’ wrongful conduct.”

– Jane Doe S.K. et al v. Roblox Corporation et al

S.K. presents claims for fraudulent concealment and misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence, negligent and strict liability – failure to warn, negligence – unreasonable design, negligent undertaking, and strict liability – design defect.

Roblox Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

The lawsuit comes about two weeks after Roblox announced it was rolling out new child safety features last month. According to the company, the new system will require facial age checks before allowing users to chat with others on the platform.

Users would only be able to communicate with individuals in their own age bracket, as determined by the facial recognition check. The system is being phased in over the next couple months and is expected to be in place worldwide by early December, the company claims.

For S.K. and dozens of other parents and survivors pursuing Roblox child sexual abuse lawsuits, the new changes are too little, too late. They claim that the company knew about the sexual predator problem for years and could have better protected the multitude of children using its platform, accusing Roblox Corporation of placing profits over children’s safety.

There are at least 32 similar lawsuits filed in 12 district courts nationwide, according to a motion of transfer filed by one parent with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) last month. That plaintiff seeks to create a federal Roblox child sex abuse lawsuit MDL, or multidistrict litigation, in the Northern District of California, where S.K.’s lawsuit was also filed.

On October 10, the JPML announced it will hold oral arguments on December 4 in the U.S. Courthouse in Austin, Texas, after which the panel will consider whether to centralize the child exploitation lawsuits against Roblox.

If the JPML approves, the cases would be consolidated before one federal judge for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, the lawsuits will remain individual, separate claims, and if no resolution or Roblox settlement agreement is reached during the pretrial proceedings they would be remanded back to their originating districts for individual trial dates.

Individuals who believe they or their children were harmed through Roblox can have their situation reviewed by a Roblox attorney to see if they qualify for a lawsuit or potential settlement. Case evaluations are confidential, and lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning no fees or costs are charged unless compensation is secured.

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