Roblox, Snap Inc, And Meta Were Sued For Being Unable To Protect A Girl From Adult Exploitation

Snapchat and other social media apps were sued for not being able to protect children. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - A lawsuit filed in San Francisco on Tuesday, October 4 alleges online gaming company Roblox Corp. has allowed the sexual and financial exploitation of a California girl by an adult male.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco High Court, also targets online chat company Discord Inc, Snapchat parent Snap Inc and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc. Snap and Meta have faced dozens of similar lawsuits so far.

Meta declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Roblox and Snap could not be reached for the lawsuit.

A Discord spokesperson said the company has a "zero tolerance policy for anyone harming or abusing children" but declined to comment directly on the lawsuit about abuse on its platform.

According to the lawsuit seen by Reuters, the girl, S.U., was born in 2009 and started using Roblox when she was nine or ten years old. Roblox is popular with children under 13 but also has significant adult users.

Starting early 2020, S.U. came into contact with adult men through Roblox, which prompted him to sign up for Discord, Snapchat and Instagram to communicate with them, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit None of the companies required parental consent for their listings, and Discord did not verify S.U.'s age. although it says it doesn't allow users under 13.

Men exploited her by encouraging her to drink and abuse prescription drugs and sending sexually explicit photos of her. A man also allegedly persuaded him to send him money.

According to this lawsuit, S.U. ended up suffering from severe mental health issues that led to a suicide attempt and hospitalization as a result of her bad experience on social media.

S.U. and her mother, C.U., claim that social media companies have failed to take steps to keep minors from using their platforms safely. Even the lawsuit alleges that Snap and Instagram encourage addiction in children to social media. They are demanding compensation, which has yet to be determined.