Mother sues Roblox, Discord over teen suicide

A California mother sued digital platforms Roblox and Discord on Friday after a pedophile used the platforms to sexually abuse her son, who later committed suicide at the age of 15. Rebecca Dallas alleged that the companies operated recklessly and deceptively by repeatedly promising parents that the apps were safe, while not enacting effective safeguards to protect children from pedophiles. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a similar lawsuit against Roblox weeks earlier. Her office accused the company of facilitating sexual exploitation of children and knowingly failing to implement safety protocols against predators.

Roblox is a digital, interactive game that’s designed to be an educational platform for children to explore and learn new concepts in a virtual world with cartoon avatars. The platform includes direct messaging and voice chatting between users. It also encourages players to use the chat service Discord for real-time video, message, and voice communication during gameplay, according to the lawsuit. Both platforms have age restrictions barring adults from talking with children and minors from viewing mature content, but the protocols can be bypassed.

How have the companies responded to the accusations? A Discord spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation but insisted that the company is committed to safety. All users must be at least 13 years old to access the platform, and Discord enacts proactive systems that shut down sexual exploitation and grooming online, the spokesperson told WORLD.

WORLD reached out to Roblox for comment and did not receive a timely response. The company released a statement after Murrill’s August filing, insisting that the company worked continuously to enact new safety measures to protect users. Roblox dedicated substantial resources toward the detection and prevention of inappropriate behavior and regularly cooperated with police and government agencies, according to the company.

How does the mother allege the apps are responsible for her son’s death? Ethan was targeted on Roblox by a serial child predator posing as a child, according to the lawsuit. The predator’s conversations with Ethan began innocently but gradually evolved into sexual exchanges. The predator convinced Ethan to start chatting on Discord and convinced the boy to send sexually explicit images of himself, according to the lawsuit. The predator then extorted Ethan to continue sending sexual photos and videos with the threat of public exposure, humiliation, and physical violence against the boy. Ethan ultimately committed suicide after the prolonged abuse, the filing alleged.

Ethan was targeted with a textbook grooming technique that Roblox knew about for years, the filing claimed. Both platforms failed to enforce their highly publicised zero-tolerance policy around sexual content, the lawsuit argued. Roblox and Discord portray themselves as child-friendly platforms, but enforce no basic safety precautions and ultimately knowingly facilitate pedophilia, the filing argued. Basic safety features would protect against the kind of exploitation Ethan suffered, the filing continued. Child predators use both platforms as hunting grounds for victims, and companies turn a blind eye because they capitalize on growth, the lawsuit alleged.

The filing accused both platforms of various negligence and liability charges, along with wrongful death and failure to warn. Rebecca Dallas sought general damages for past, present, and future harms, including emotional distress, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment in life. She also sought medical expenses, funeral expenses, wrongful death damages, legal fees, and injunctive relief from the companies.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s report on The World and Everything in It about Roblox appearing on the annual “Dirty Dozen” list of corporations that enable sexual exploitation.