Online child safety campaigners, including bestselling author Jonathan Haidt, have called on the Trump administration to investigate Roblox, the booming gaming and chat platform used by 150 million people daily, many of whom are under 13. Haidt's Anxious Generation Movement, along with Fairplay and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, filed a dossier to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) criticising Roblox's 'engagement-maximising design features'. The groups allege that the platform's voice and text chat repeatedly expose children to sexual content and harmful adults, leading to exploitation and abuse. They also claim that Roblox's in-game currency, Robux, monetises children's lack of impulse control.
Roblox's Popularity Among Young Children
Roblox users, some as young as five, adopt block-like avatars to play millions of user-created games. They can chat with others based on age brackets: nine-year-olds can chat with 16-year-olds, and 13-year-olds with 17-year-olds. The most popular game, Brookhaven, lets players own houses and drive vehicles, but the site has also hosted controversial games with sexually explicit content, violence, and horror.
Campaigners' Allegations
The request for an investigation accuses Roblox of 'committing unfair trade practices and acts at the expense of children's safety and wellbeing'. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has been vocal about child safety online. Last year, the FTC held a seminar titled 'The attention economy: how big tech firms exploit children and hurt families.' Roblox, based in San Mateo, California, saw revenue jump 36% to $4.9 billion last year, driven by Robux sales. Game creators earned $1.5 billion.
Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, previously warned about how monetisation strategies in multiplayer games incentivise companies to put kids in harmful situations. Casey Mock, senior policy director of Haidt's movement, stated that with 40% of daily users under 13, Roblox has obligations beyond its terms of service to design a safe product. The dossier alleges recent changes to chat features have not eliminated adult-child contact and remain a source of harm.
Backlash Against Online Platforms
This intervention is part of a broader consumer and political backlash against popular online platforms. Last month, a California jury ruled that Meta and YouTube designed addictive products harming young people. In Washington, Republican legislators are pushing tougher legislation to protect children online. Fairplay's policy counsel, Haley Hinkle, said Roblox's claims of safety are false, urging the FTC to investigate and stop Roblox from profiting at children's expense.
Roblox's Response
A Roblox spokesperson strongly disputed the claims, stating the platform is designed for positive, healthy experiences, not short-term engagement. They highlighted safeguards like age estimation, Sentinel for real-time child endangerment detection, and policies for game creators. They noted that direct chat is off by default for under-nines, and voice chat is restricted to age-checked users 13 and older. Only 1.4% of users were payers in early 2026, and no one is required to buy Robux.
