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{"id":26838,"date":"2026-08-13T17:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/senate-kids-safety-probe-targets-roblox-gaming-platform\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T17:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:47:37","slug":"senate-kids-safety-probe-targets-roblox-gaming-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/senate-kids-safety-probe-targets-roblox-gaming-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate kids\u2019 safety probe targets Roblox gaming platform"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Sens. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/congress\/member\/1f1c83dc-b01b-4724-aa51-6920b93a0a94\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/congress\/member\/845fda6f-4459-46f0-a956-263e74780ae5\" target=\"_blank\">Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)<\/a> launched an investigation Wednesday into Roblox\u2019s handling of child safety on its online gaming platform. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRoblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children, and the alleged criminal activity on Roblox warrants congressional scrutiny,\u201d Hawley and Durbin, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, wrote in a letter obtained by Blue Light News.<\/p>\n<p>Roblox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the probe, the lawmakers have asked Roblox CEO David Baszucki for documents detailing how the platform protects minors as the Senate intensifies scrutiny of children\u2019s online experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/08\/05\/congress\/senate-commerce-votes-to-advance-key-kids-safety-measure-01025249\" target=\"_blank\">advanced a slate of bills<\/a> aimed at protecting kids on social media platforms. Hawley, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawley.senate.gov\/hawley-negotiates-inclusion-of-stop-csam-act-in-senate-ndaa\/\" target=\"_blank\">has lobbied<\/a> to include his and Durbin\u2019s bill to curb child sexual abuse material online, the <a href=\"https:\/\/legislation.politicopro.com\/bill\/US_119_S_1829\" target=\"_blank\">Stop CSAM Act<\/a>, in the must-pass defense policy bill.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate Judiciary Committee has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/24\/white-house-helped-mark-zuckerberg-and-the-google-ceo-dodge-a-senate-grilling-00974497\" target=\"_blank\">negotiated with<\/a> tech companies over whether top executives will testify about how their platforms protect young users. The committee\u2019s chair, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51187\" data-person-id=\"51187\">Chuck Grassley<\/a> (R-Iowa), has separately <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/news\/news-releases\/grassley-probes-meta-on-disclosures-alleging-company-disregarded-child-safety-risks-and-retaliated-against-whistleblowers\" target=\"_blank\">probed Meta<\/a> over alleged negligence and <a href=\"https:\/\/subscriber.politicopro.com\/article\/2026\/06\/senate-judiciary-chiefs-look-to-hitch-kids-safety-legislation-to-defense-package-00973505\" target=\"_blank\">pushed for legislation<\/a> that is intended to combat child exploitation online.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley and Durbin\u2019s missive lay out a series of high-profile instances in which adult users allegedly committes \u201cserious acts of violence and harm against children they met via Roblox, including grooming, sexual abuse, kidnapping, rape, and even murder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These cases have spurred lawsuits nationwide, with Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson (R) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov\/Media\/News-Releases\/August-2026\/Ohio-AG-Seeks-to-Lead-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Against\" target=\"_blank\">seeking to lead a class-action lawsuit<\/a> against the platform earlier last week. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), in a separate suit, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/roblox-nevada-settlement-28b3d7d7a483dc28462a7504b67c9bbc\" target=\"_blank\">secured a $12 million settlement<\/a> and a promise to make platform changes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us be clear: children on your platform are hurting,\u201d Hawley and Durbin wrote. \u201cCongress will not look the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pair asked Roblox for a response no later than Aug. 31.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) launched an investigation Wednesday into Roblox\u2019s handling of child safety on its online gaming platform. \u201cRoblox appears to prioritize revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children, and the alleged criminal activity on Roblox warrants congressional scrutiny,\u201d Hawley and Durbin, the chair and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}