WASHINGTON, DC (August 15, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is urgently calling on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act in light of Roblox’s failure to protect children from predators and sexual exploitation on its platform. More than 40% of Roblox’s user base is under 12 years old.
“Immensely popular with children, Roblox has become a predator’s playground. For years, we have called on Roblox to implement more stringent safety standards, but it has not done enough. Roblox puts children in harm’s way: predators groom children in chat rooms and games; minors can have sexually explicit ‘experiences’; and there is minimal moderation and easy workarounds for safety controls. These dangers are systemic, predictable, and preventable,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Last week, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging that the platform has “facilitated the distribution of child sexual abuse material and the sexual exploitation of Louisiana’s children” while “knowingly and intentionally” failing to implement basic safety controls.
“Roblox has been actively fighting against legislation that would hold them accountable, and that is exactly why the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is needed. Roblox would be forced to find solutions to protect the children who use the platform if KOSA was passed. Congress needs to act,” McNamara added.
KOSA would promote online safety in the following ways:
- Default to Safety: KOSA would require that platforms likely to be accessed by children have the strongest safety settings turned on by default for minor-aged accounts.
- Duty of Care: KOSA creates a legal duty for platforms to design products that protect minors, with potential liability if they fail to do so.
- Safeguards and Tools: KOSA mandates that platforms provide safety safeguards for minors and tools for parents or guardians to reduce online risks.
- Transparency: KOSA requires platforms to publicly disclose their data practices and child safety measures to ensure accountability.
Roblox was named to NCOSE’s 2024 Dirty Dozen List of mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
To schedule an interview with NCOSE, please contact press@ncose.com.
