Roblox, a popular online game platform and game creation system, has been confirmed to be a part of an ongoing investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal government agency primarily responsible for enforcing laws against market manipulation.
Roblox
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Bloomberg last week, the agency stated that it could not share correspondence between its staff referencing Roblox, citing potential “harm to the ongoing enforcement proceeding.”
According to Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio, it is presently unclear to what extent Roblox is involved or if it is the subject of the investigation. Roblox itself has not responded to the outlet’s requests for comment, and the SEC has only revealed that it had “confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that there are responsive emails between Enforcement staff referencing Roblox and that these emails are part of an active and ongoing investigation.”
Throughout 2024, the studio has faced multiple lawsuits and reports related to various forms of child exploitation within the game. In March, the law firm Bullock Ward Mason filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of American parents, alleging that Roblox violates US labor laws and financially exploits children by compensating them with the nigh-worthless virtual currency, Robux, in exchange for creating games on the platform.
In response to accusations of child labor exploitation, Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza offered a controversial perspective one could summarize as, “Children don’t think they’re exploited, so it’s fine.” Speaking in April, Corazza stated, “You can say, ‘Okay, we are exploiting, you know, child labor,’ right? Or, you can say: we are offering people anywhere in the world the capability to get a job, and even like an income. For them, you know, hearing from their experience, they didn’t feel like they were exploited!”
Half a year later, Hindenburg Research published a lengthy report accusing Roblox of fostering an “X-rated pedophile hellscape,” a claim the studio categorically denied. However, the entire country of Turkey had previously reached a similar conclusion, banning Roblox in August over concerns of sexual exploitation based on reports about pedophilia at virtual parties, incentivized by Robux.
At the moment, it cannot be definitively confirmed whether the Securities and Exchange Commission’s current investigation is in any way connected to the child exploitation allegations.
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