Florida issues criminal subpoenas to Roblox over child safety

Florida Lawyer Basic James Uthmeier issued legal subpoenas to Roblox Company on October 20, 2025, launching an investigation into whether or not the gaming platform’s actions allow predators to entry and hurt youngsters. The subpoenas, filed within the Circuit Court docket of the First Judicial Circuit in Leon County, require the corporate to provide intensive documentation by December 20, 2025.

The authorized motion targets Roblox’s verification techniques, content material moderation practices, and reporting procedures. In accordance with the subpoena paperwork, a number of investigations have revealed that sexual predators exploit Roblox to entry, talk with, and groom minors. The state alleges the platform has proven negligence in adequately verifying customers’ ages and has skilled failures in content material moderation that permit sexually specific materials to evade filters and flow into throughout the platform.

“Platforms like Roblox have develop into breeding grounds for predators to realize entry to our youngsters,” Uthmeier acknowledged within the official announcement. “We are going to cease at nothing within the struggle to guard Florida’s youngsters, and corporations that expose them to hurt can be held accountable.”

The investigation covers a selected timeframe from January 2021 via the subpoena response date. Florida prosecutors demand paperwork describing necessities, processes, and standards for creating new consumer accounts on the platform, together with age and id verification procedures, consent mechanisms for minors, phrases of service and consumer agreements, parental or guardian authorization procedures, and automatic or guide evaluate processes used to validate new account registrations.

Subpoena quantity 2025-0909 calls for the identification and outline of each youngster account registered on the platform indicative of the account holder being in Florida. This contains the consumer’s age vary, the date of account creation, another accounts linked to the identical consumer or family, IP handle used to create the account, geographic location of the account, and whether or not the account stays at present energetic.

Florida prosecutors search all exemplars, drafts, and closing variations of selling, promotional, or promoting supplies whether or not digital, print, audiovisual, or in any other case that reference, depict, or concern the platform’s suitability, security, or appropriateness for minors or youngster customers. This contains representations made to oldsters, guardians, or the general public concerning age-appropriate content material or parental controls.

The subpoena calls for paperwork referring to the advertising and marketing of the platform to youngsters. Prosecutors need inner planning paperwork, stories, or analyses involving promotions, giveaways, social media campaigns, celeb or influencer endorsements, partnerships, use of cartoon imagery, music, or colour schemes designed to enchantment to youngsters. The state additionally seeks data-driven advertising and marketing practices involving surveillance, focusing on, or behavioral personalization directed towards minors.

Experiences recommend predators make the most of the platform’s in-game foreign money, Robux, to bribe minors into sending sexually specific photographs of themselves. Victims have accused Roblox of knowingly failing to implement significant security measures or present enough warnings to oldsters in regards to the risks their youngsters face, whereas publicly sustaining that the platform is secure for younger customers.

Florida calls for documentation of all insurance policies, procedures, and technical safeguards carried out to forestall youngsters from being uncovered to mature, specific, or in any other case age-inappropriate content material on the platform. Prosecutors need paperwork supporting any statements, representations, or claims made in advertising and marketing or public-facing supplies that recommend or indicate the platform is “secure for all ages,” “child-friendly,” or in any other case appropriate for kids.

The investigation examines how Roblox handles stories of kid exploitation. The subpoena calls for an inventory figuring out every report submitted via the platform’s reporting mechanisms or different inner techniques by a consumer or mother or father alleging abuse, exploitation, grooming, endangerment, or different youngster security violations. The checklist should embrace the date obtained, the character of the allegation, the account or username concerned, any inner reference or case quantity assigned, and the disposition or standing of every report.

Florida prosecutors need lists figuring out every occasion the place a consumer or mother or father alleged abuse, exploitation, grooming, endangerment, or different youngster security violations and submitted written or verbal discover to Roblox Company and the place the discover was then submitted to the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Youngsters, the Florida Abuse Hotline, the Nationwide Human Trafficking Hotline, or the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline.

Additional stories point out that Roblox has knowingly didn’t report incidents of kid victimization to the right authorities. The state calls for paperwork reflecting the full variety of accounts, damaged down by month, that Roblox has faraway from the platform from January 2021 till September 2025 because of youngster issues of safety.

Prosecutors search paperwork enough to explain parental management options out there on the platform, together with their operation, scope, limitations, and strategies by which minors might circumvent or disable such options. The state needs paperwork enough to explain the design, operation, and performance of chat moderation, content material moderation, and reporting techniques on the platform, together with human and automatic evaluate processes.

The subpoena calls for paperwork enough to determine workers or contractors answerable for growing, implementing, or implementing age verification, content material moderation, and youngster security protocols. This contains names, job titles, employment dates, and supervisory reporting construction.

Florida needs paperwork enough to explain the classes of non-public info collected, saved, or processed about minors utilizing the platform, together with the needs for which such information is used. The investigation seeks paperwork enough to explain moderation procedures, enforcement protocols, and security guardrails used to detect, stop, or take away inappropriate or dangerous content material or customers.

The state seeks documentation of any pending or concluded litigation, administrative motion, or regulatory continuing since January 2021 referring to the protection of minors or youngster safety points involving the platform or any account consumer positioned in Florida.

Digital information preservation necessities mandate that Roblox should discontinue all information destruction and overwriting or recycling processes of related information. The corporate should protect passwords, decryption procedures and accompanying software program, entry codes, and ID codes. Roblox should preserve all pertinent info and instruments wanted to entry, evaluate, and reconstruct all requested or doubtlessly related digital information.

The subpoena instructs that responsive paperwork current in digital format shall be offered in native format. Microsoft Phrase recordsdata should be offered as .doc recordsdata, Outlook emails as .pst recordsdata, and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as .xls recordsdata. The checklist of stories shall be offered in native Excel format. The database format can be requested for manufacturing after each events agree on the format.

Native recordsdata needs to be offered in directories that are identifiable as aware of a selected doc request. All paperwork produced in native type needs to be produced on CDROM, DVDROM, Exterior USB, or different related drive media of a sort that may be learn by any customary laptop. Except in any other case agreed to, customary metadata in electronically saved info shall be preserved and produced, resembling custodian, to, from, CC, BCC, dates and occasions despatched, obtained and modified, attachments, hyperlinks, and doc varieties.

The investigation timeline issues for digital entrepreneurs as a result of Roblox has considerably expanded its promoting partnerships whereas dealing with scrutiny over youngster security. Louisiana sued Roblox in August 2025 over related allegations of insufficient youngster safety measures whereas the corporate accelerated promoting integrations.

Roblox opened video ads to all brands in May 2024, creating alternatives for entrepreneurs to succeed in its 71.5 million every day energetic customers. The platform partnered with PubMatic for programmatic video advertising in April 2024, increasing automated advert shopping for capabilities. Google expanded its advertising partnership with Roblox in August 2025 via rewarded video promoting, with practically 100 publishers integrating the system.

The Florida investigation raises questions on model security for corporations promoting on platforms with important underage consumer populations. Advertising and marketing professionals should consider whether or not affiliation with gaming platforms via promoting partnerships aligns with company social duty requirements when detailed allegations of kid exploitation emerge from a number of state attorneys basic.

Roblox partnered with the International Age Rating Coalition in September 2025 to implement enhanced content material rankings. That partnership arrived because the platform confronted elevated regulatory scrutiny. The timing demonstrates platform makes an attempt to deal with security issues whereas sustaining promoting income development that reached $1,080.7 million within the second quarter of 2025, representing 21 p.c year-over-year development.

The Florida subpoena arrives as Era Z includes greater than half of Roblox’s every day energetic consumer base. This demographic focus attracts entrepreneurs in search of to succeed in youthful audiences via immersive platform environments. The platform reported 82.9 million every day energetic customers, with roughly 20 p.c underneath 9 years outdated.

Roblox launched a licensing platform in July 2025 that includes partnerships with Netflix, Lionsgate, Sega, and Kodansha for mental property integration. These collaborations increase branded content material alternatives whereas the platform faces authorized challenges concerning youngster safety.

The investigation examines whether or not the corporate prioritized consumer development and income over youngster security measures. Prosecutors need paperwork referring to the advertising and marketing of the platform to youngsters, together with inner planning paperwork, stories, or analyses involving promotions, giveaways, social media campaigns, celeb or influencer endorsements, and partnerships designed to enchantment to youngsters.

Florida calls for all paperwork supporting any statements that recommend the platform is “secure for all ages” or “child-friendly.” The state needs all paperwork enough to explain parental management options out there on the platform, together with strategies by which minors might circumvent or disable such options.

The subpoena requires Roblox to provide paperwork enough to determine any pending or concluded litigation, administrative motion, or regulatory continuing since January 2021 referring to the protection of minors or youngster safety points involving the platform or any account consumer positioned in Florida. This requirement suggests the investigation might uncover patterns of security failures throughout a number of jurisdictions.

Prosecutors demand documentation of chat moderation, content material moderation, and reporting techniques on the platform, together with human and automatic evaluate processes. The state seeks paperwork enough to explain moderation procedures, enforcement protocols, and security guardrails used to detect, stop, or take away inappropriate or dangerous content material or customers.

The investigation focuses on how the platform handles stories of exploitation. Florida needs a complete checklist of each report submitted via Roblox’s reporting mechanisms alleging abuse, exploitation, grooming, endangerment, or different youngster security violations. The checklist should element the date obtained, the character of the allegation, the account or username concerned, any inner reference or case quantity assigned, and the disposition or standing of every report.

The subpoena defines exploitation as utilizing, coercing, or manipulating or trying to make use of, coerce, or manipulate a minor within the manufacturing of sexually specific materials or youngster sexual abuse materials, distributing, possessing or transmitting youngster sexual abuse materials, or partaking in on-line “enticement” or grooming with sexual intent.

Florida defines grooming as patterns of communication or conduct directed to a minor that features constructing belief or an emotional reference to a minor, desensitizing the minor to sexual content material or advances, isolating or manipulating a minor to organize for abuse or exploitation, specific and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual exercise, sexual conduct, or sexual pleasure or is meant to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a baby.

The state defines issues of safety as occasions or communications referring to youngster exploitation, kidnapping, youngster predators, youngster endangerment, youngster pornography, addictive use, human trafficking, youngster sexual abuse materials, materials dangerous to youngsters, or criminal activity.

The investigation targets paperwork enough to explain the classes of non-public info collected, saved, or processed about minors utilizing the platform, together with the needs for which such information is used. Prosecutors need all paperwork referring to the advertising and marketing of the platform to youngsters, together with data-driven advertising and marketing practices involving surveillance, focusing on, or behavioral personalization directed towards minors.

Florida’s motion follows broader scrutiny of social media and gaming platforms concerning youngster security. The investigation examines whether or not platforms adequately shield minors whereas pursuing promoting income development. Digital promoting expertise developments in 2024 and 2025 have enabled more and more subtle viewers focusing on capabilities, together with demographic segmentation that permits advertisers to succeed in particular age teams.

The subpoena instructs Roblox that if the full value of supplying information will exceed 200 {dollars}, the corporate should contact the designated prosecutor earlier than continuing. Paperwork responsive to every request needs to be segregated and particularly recognized to point clearly the actual numbered request to which they’re responsive.

Florida regulation permits recipients of subpoenas duces tecum to obtain cost for straight incurred prices that are moderately essential to seek for, reproduce, or transport information to adjust to the subpoena. This cost is proscribed to the full quantity of personnel time spent finding and retrieving paperwork or info requested by the subpoena.

The investigation carries implications for a way gaming platforms stability income era with youngster safety duties. Corporations should implement significant security measures whereas offering enough warnings to oldsters about potential risks. The Florida investigation suggests state authorities more and more scrutinize whether or not platforms’ public security claims align with precise practices.

Timeline

Abstract

Who: Florida Lawyer Basic James Uthmeier issued legal subpoenas to Roblox Company, focusing on the corporate’s authorized division in San Mateo, California, and its registered agent Company Service Firm in Tallahassee, Florida.

What: The subpoenas demand intensive documentation overlaying consumer verification techniques, content material moderation practices, advertising and marketing supplies focusing on youngsters, parental controls, reporting mechanisms for youngster exploitation, and the corporate’s response to security violations from January 2021 via the response date.

When: The subpoenas had been issued on October 20, 2025, with a response deadline of December 20, 2025. The investigation examines Roblox’s practices and information from January 2021 via September 2025.

The place: The subpoenas had been filed within the Circuit Court docket of the First Judicial Circuit in Leon County, Florida, and particularly goal youngster accounts and security incidents involving Florida residents on the Roblox platform.

Why: The investigation examines whether or not Roblox’s actions, or lack thereof, allow predators to entry and hurt youngsters. A number of investigations revealed that sexual predators exploit the platform to entry, talk with, and groom minors, with allegations together with insufficient age verification, content material moderation failures permitting sexually specific materials to flow into, use of in-game foreign money to bribe minors, and failures to report youngster victimization incidents to correct authorities.