Girl,13, allegedly trafficked and raped by predator on Roblox
Roblox may be the ultimate gaming experience for many kids, but it also opens the door to online predators.
While Roblox may seem innocent enough in the gaming community, it opens up a door to online predators, leaving your child vulnerable to anything.
News of the alleged kidnapping, rape and trafficking of a 13-year-old girl from Iowa, USA, who was introduced to an online predator while playing Roblox, has left many people shocked.
Milberg.com reports that: "A lawsuit has been filed alleging that Roblox Corporation enabled the grooming, exploitation, kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl by creating a 'digital hunting ground' for predators while falsely marketing their platforms as safe for children."
The scariest part about this is that the complaint alleges that Roblox knew about the dangers posed to users, who are predominantly minors, and did nothing to prevent this from occurring.
Despite knowing their apps were hunting grounds for predators, Roblox continued to market themselves as a safe space for kids to learn while refusing to implement basic safety features. They had every tool necessary to prevent this abuse – age verification, effective parental controls, proper monitoring systems – but implementing these safeguards might have reduced their user engagement metrics, so they chose to leave children vulnerable instead.
According to ABC News: "Roblox, the online gaming platform wildly popular with children and teenagers, is rolling out an open-source version of an artificial intelligence system it says can help preemptively detect predatory language in game chats."
The development of this safety feature comes after several lawsuits against Roblox, which claimed that the company didn't do enough to protect child safety while claiming to be a safe platform for children.
That Cyber Safety Guy, Michael Buswell, shared some tips on how to stay vigilant as a parent whose children are using online platforms.
Here are some things to note as a parent:
- When a child is being groomed online, they become super sensitive about their online activity. In other words, they will try their best to hide everything from their parents.
- They will also start talking about friends that you have never heard of or met. Look out for strange gifts coming in the mail or your kids sending photos to anyone.
- Look for specific phrases when your child is gaming online or using a social media platform. For example, "Don't tell anyone," "This is just between us," or "Let's move to another app."
- You can protect your child or children by listening to them. Have nonjudgmental conversations with them; this will make them feel more comfortable being open with you.
- Go on private chats and teach them about grooming and what it sounds like. Remember, most of the time, these kids are naive and impressionable; they don't see the dangers posed by making a new friend online. It's your job to keep them informed and equipped to handle an online predator.
- Use parental monitoring tools like Bark, Qustudio, Parentaler and mSpy, which will allow you to track and monitor their online behaviour.
- Stay involved in their digital lives, download the apps they are using, and interact with the apps so that you can understand the risks.
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