Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that his office is opening up a criminal investigation into Roblox, a popular children's online gaming platform, during an appearance on Fox and Friends First this week. The attorney general is accusing the platform of not adequately safeguarding its service from child predators with a suitable age verification feature for its users.
"Our initial inquiry, as well as arrests and convictions across the state, have shown that Roblox is a breeding ground for child predators to get on the platform, solicit information, locations, and ultimately abuse kids," Uthmeier argued.
He vehemently called the accusations a "non-starter" for the state.
"We will go after child predators with everything we've got, and we're going to hold Roblox accountable," Uthmeier continued. "We believe that they have knowingly allowed their platform to be used in this way."
Uthmeier issued a civil inquiry against Roblox in April, which kick-started the criminal investigation.
"We immediately started gathering information, and what we found is evidence that they've been operating in a careless way," he specified. "They know child predators are using the app to go after our kids, and they haven't done enough about it. They don't have enough protocols in place for age verification."
Uthmeier also accused Roblox of not doing enough to monitor the content shared on its platform, including sexual content in the presence of children.
As a result, Uthmeier claimed adults would disguise themselves as children while using the application, and ultimately engage in criminal behavior.
'They pretend to be kids themselves. They engage in long-term dialogue, communicating with kids over the platform. They start to send and solicit imagery sexual content," Uthmeier specified. "Ultimately, they schedule meetups, and in the worst of cases, we've seen actual physical abuse."
In a statement provided to Fox 35 Orlando, following recent lawsuits, Roblox said its "vision is to be the safest place on the internet." "While no system is perfect, this year alone we have made over 100 safety enhancements to help protect our users and empower parents and caregivers with greater control and visibility," they added,
Uthmeier, however, is not buying it. He told Fox's Carley Shimkus that they would see Roblox in court.
"Kids still being solicited online, so they haven't done enough," Uthmeier said. "We look forward to working with them to the extent they're willing, and if they're not, we'll see them in court or more."
Backing up his assertiveness to the investigation, Uthmeier indicated that his office has arrested over 1,000 child predators in 2025. The attorney general became Florida's chief legal officer after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February.
In September, Uthmeier's office charged 230 suspects, including some illegal aliens, in a week-long human trafficking operation and sexual predator sting. The attorney general also charged eight individuals connected to an international child pornography ring back in April.
