Kansas, Roblox strike $10 million-plus deal to strengthen child safety

Kansas has reached a settlement worth more than $10 million with Roblox, requiring the company to enhance its child safety measures to protect children from predators.

“Parents should not have to compete with predators and poorly designed platforms just to keep their kids safe online,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said in a statement.

Roblox, an online gaming platform used by millions of children, has found itself at the center of several child exploitation lawsuits and investigations, with one state attorney general calling it an “online pedophile playground,” Heartlander News previously reported.

Roblox has agreed to hire a Kansas-based law enforcement specialist to assist with legal requests in Kansas and across the Midwest. The company will also appoint someone experienced in online child safety to help develop safety policies.

Under the agreement, Roblox will pay the Office of the Attorney General $9.8 million over three years and fund a Kansas multimedia awareness campaign with $500,000 over the same period.

“This settlement puts real money, real tools and real accountability on the table,” Kobach said. “Kansas children deserve age-appropriate content and meaningful parental controls.”

If Roblox fails to uphold its end of the agreement, the company will be required to pay an additional $10 million in damages.

Along with the safety measures specific to Kansas, Roblox has agreed to implement or continue the following safety procedures:

• All users are required to undergo age assurance to ensure they have access to age-appropriate chat features and content. 

• Parents are given stronger parental controls through a linked parent account and the option to use a passcode or other locking mechanism on devices. 

• Children under 18 are protected from being contacted by unknown adults by restricting chat availability to users in a similar age group. 

• Chat moderation tools are used to proactively prevent conversations from being moved to other platforms, such as Discord. 

• Communication safety issues are continuously monitored and addressed as technology changes so safety measures can be improved. 

• Roblox users under 16 are prohibited from sending or receiving Robux – Roblox’s in-game currency – without parental permission. 

“Kansas will not accept a system in which kids can be steered into conversations with strangers and then pushed onto other apps where parents have even less visibility,” Kobach said. “Age assurance, default age-grouped chat, stronger parental locks and limits on Robux transfers are practical steps.”

Kansas and Missouri were both involved in what was described as the “largest big tech settlement in history” in August – a $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta. In addition to payments to the 47 states involved in the agreement, Meta agreed to implement several child safety features on Instagram and Facebook.

“As a mother, I know how critical it is to shield kids from predators, addictive material and content that harms their mental health,” Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said about the Meta settlement.

“By implementing enforceable time limits, nighttime protections, age verification tools and healthier content controls, Meta is setting a new benchmark for the industry. Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms should follow this example so every child, no matter where they spend time online, benefits from the same level of protection.”