US groups demand Roblox investigation over child safety, ‘deceptive’ marketing practices

Roblox, the world's famous online gaming platform is once again under fire over its failure to protect children from strangers on the platform.

In a recent move the children’s advocacy groups have contacted the US Federal Trade Commission (UFTC) and urged it to launch an investigation into Roblox, as reported by Reuters.

The concerns of these groups revolve around child-unfriendly design features called “engagement-maximising”, “unfair and deceptive” marketing practices, in-game purchases, and chat features.

In a complaint filed by advocacy groups to the US regulators, they claimed that at the online gaming platform, teens are not safe, in fact, at the risk of being contacted by strangers. They pressured children to spend more money on Roblox.

As per filing, the groups including National Center on Sexual Exploitation and Fairplay demanded to investigate whether Roblox violated the Federal Trade Act’s section 5.

Under this law, the companies are barred from deploying deceptive practices that affect commerce.

This is not the first probe Roblox will face, the platform is under scrutiny from the international community. More than 140 lawsuits in the US federal court have been filed against Roblox on the grounds of designing a platform marketed to minors that creates vulnerabilities for predators to target and contact children.

In response to demand for investigation, Roblox’s spokesperson “strongly” dismissed these allegations.

“The platform was built for fun and connection, not short-term engagement,” he added.

Talking about in-game purchases, the company stated most games were free of cost.

"In the first quarter of 2026, only 1.4% of our 132 million daily active users were payers on the platform," they added.

The company also maintains the position of implementing safety measures, including mandatory age verification for U.S. users to access chat features and restrictions that limit communication between minors to other users within their own age group.