The report on Roblox published by Hindenburg Research will certainly cause discussion, given that it describes the famous game, very popular with children, as a hell full of pedophiles. In short, the text does not mince words: “our research conducted in game has revealed a hell full of class X pedophiles, which exposes children to grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech”.
Hindenburg Research is an investment firm known for its “short selling” activities. In his report he highlighted several problems with Roblox, also stating that the data provided by the company is inflated. The most alarming part though, concerns inaction against the phenomenon of child pornography.
Is Roblox dangerous?
Hindenburg Research references a 2024 report published by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation titled “Roblox treats child protection like a game“, in which the company, which we remember is listed on the stock exchange, is accused of not dedicating itself enough to the protection of children. For example, among the accounts there are many variations of the name “Jeffrey Epstein”, an American entrepreneur and criminal, arrested and convicted of sexual abuse and international trafficking of minors. There are also usernames with very clear meanings such as “@igruum_minors” and “@RavpeTinyK1dsJE”.
The worst part, however, is another, according to what was described: “After choosing a username, we indicated our age as “under 13” to see if children are exposed to adult content. I simply entered the word “adult” into the Roblox search bar to find a group called “Adult Studios” with 3,334 members openly exchanging child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from minors. We then tracked some of the members of “Adult Studios” and easily arrived at 38 Roblox groups, one with 103,000 members, that were openly soliciting sexual favors and trading child pornography.”
After the report was published, the group “Adult Studios” was blocked. It is not clear why he had not been identified before, given that he had been operating practically in broad daylight for months.
The report goes on to describe some games available in Roblox that are easily found by kids, such as Escape to Epstein Island and Run From Diddy Simulator. Hindenburg also found games with a million hits like Beat Up Homeless Outside 7/11 Simulator and Beat Up The Pregnant, the latter described as a game in which “users attack and kill pregnant women in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, using machetes, frying pans or a selection of guns.”
It is then told: “Pretending to be a child in the “therapeutic” experience of Roblox, the therapist presented himself as a “rapper with only one p” (raper means rapist Ed.). He advised us to run away from home and that he would come to pick us up and then move us into his basement in exchange for paying the rent with our bodies.
The report highlights how by registering accounts of children as young as 8 or 9, no restrictions are placed on access to adult groups or even to those moderated several times for “exchange of child pornography”.
Roblox responded to Hindenburg’s report by stating that “Every day, tens of millions of users of all ages have safe and positive experiences on Roblox.” This is undeniable, but this does not refute what Hindenburg reported, which obviously does not concern all users. It’s as if a pastry chef defended himself from the accusation of having put excrement in the pasta by stating that most of the customers ate delicious pasta. Roblox later accused the Hindenburg report of having been crafted to support the company’s agenda. It is also added that Roblox has invested heavily in user protection, i.e. in Trust & Safety, but the facts reported are not refuted and there is no mention of possible improvements in the critical issues identified. In short, it’s not much to reassure.
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