Lawsuit Seeks to Hold Roblox and Discord Accountable for Enabling Child Sexual Exploitation in Recent Lawsuit
Anapol Weiss partner Pat Huyett spoke to the San Mateo Daily Journal about a lawsuit the firm filed on February 12 against online gaming platform Roblox and online messaging platform Discord. The lawsuit alleges that the companies’ platforms enabled the sexual exploitation of a 13-year-old boy—and that other minors across the country are also at risk.
In the case Doe v. Roblox Corp., Discord Inc., which Anapol Weiss filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, where Roblox is based, the adult predator who exploited the young boy had already been charged with engaging in sexual conduct with another child and authorities now believe he exploited at least 26 other children. According to the lawsuit, the serial predator used Roblox and Discord to groom the boy and then coerce him not only into sharing sexually explicit content virtually but also into agreeing to meet in person.
“Our client did give this man his address. They made plans to meet up in person, not at the client’s family home, but at a nearby location in person,” said Huyett. “Our client ended up not going, but the predator did show up, and the man was infuriated and began threatening him and threatening his family.”
Online sexual exploitation can have significant real-world consequences on children and their entire families, putting their physical safety at risk, leading to psychological harm, and resulting in financial losses. In this case, the family had to move to protect their safety.
Although Roblox and Discord are far from the only gaming and social media platforms that cater to young users, factors that make the safety of these platforms particularly concerning include ineffective age verification policies that often permit adults to pose as minors.
“This type of exploitation does occur on other platforms but … by far, child predators prefer platforms like Roblox and Discord,” Huyett said. “It’s like the world’s biggest playground, and so that is a draw for [predators]. They fly under the radar a bit more than platforms like Instagram, which has been in the spotlight for awhile now. Roblox has too, but other platforms overshadow them because they’re more widely used.”
Huyett and his colleague Alexandra Walsh, one of the nation’s foremost trial attorneys, have been leading the effort to hold Roblox accountable for the consequences of unsafe features since 2023, when they filed a class action lawsuit representing parents who purchased Robux, Roblox’s virtual currency, for their children based on the company’s misrepresentations of safety.
Anapol Weiss is actively interviewing potential plaintiffs who have been sexually exploited on Roblox and Discord. Huyett, Walsh, and their team of trial attorneys, including shareholder Kristen Gibbons Feden, who joined the firm in 2024, are prepared to pursue further legal action against the companies by filing additional lawsuits on behalf of victims of abuse and exploitation.
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy also represents the plaintiff as co-counsel in Doe v. Roblox Corp., Discord Inc.
Full San Mateo Daily Journal article: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/roblox-discord-face-lawsuit/article_d321ecca-f008-11ef-97bf-47ffd9368546.html
