MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday a $12.2 million settlement with the popular video game Roblox over child safety concerns.
Marshall said at a press conference that the legal action came after concerns about Roblox’s chat feature allowing unknown adults to contact and potentially exploit children.
A man in Athens, Alabama, was arrested in February on charges of criminal assistance to suicide, indecent behavior with a juvenile and child pornography. His interactions with the minor allegedly began in a Roblox chat.
Marshall estimated that more than 100,000 Alabamians under the age of 16 play on Roblox.
“I am extremely proud of the work of this office in securing a settlement that ensures that Alabama’s kids have a safer opportunity to be able to engage in the Roblox platform but also sends a very direct message to others who likewise offer opportunities for children to be online,” Marshall said. “That is, we’re watching, that we have no tolerance for child exploitation, and we will take action and deliver results when we see that Alabama’s children are engaged in vulnerable activity.”
Several other states have recently filed suit against Roblox over safety concerns. Nevada and West Virginia have also reached monetary settlements with the company.
Alabama’s settlement includes a most-favored nation clause, which means that its settlement will be adjusted accordingly if another state reaches a better settlement.
Because his office handled the case internally, Marshall said all of the settlement money will go to the Safe Schools Initiative Fund to support school resource officers “quickly and directly.”
He said this will bring the state closer to its aspiration of every child having access to a SRO.
“I can think of no more tangible way to serve our youth than to have boots on the ground in our schools,” Marshall said. “SROs aren’t just there to be able to keep our children safe, but they play a very important role in the entire health of our students, including their mental health and students serving in crisis.”
Marshall did not provide specifics about how exactly his office will distribute the money between the 1,400 schools in Alabama but said that he’s looking into needs-based funding. He referenced the state’s opioid settlement as a potential model for dispersing the money.
The settlement also puts into place several safety measures on the platform to prevent minors from connecting with adults they don’t know.
Soon, all Roblox users will have to undergo an “age assurance” process to utilize the chat function. Users can do this by showing a valid, government-issued ID or utilize facial recognition software in the app.
Users deemed to be under 16 will not be allowed to chat with people over 16 without express parental consent. The agreement also forbids Roblox from encrypting chats between minors.
New legislation signed into law Gov. Kay Ivey also requires app stores to have their own age verification processes.
House Bill 161 by Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, sorts children into age categories when they make an account on app stores. If users are under age, guardians have to set up a linked account to approve the minor to download apps and make in-app purchases. If developers make major changes to apps, parents also have to reauthorize their children’s usage of them.
The bill also stops app stores from being able to enforce contracts or terms of service agreements against minors without their parents’ permission. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Katherine Robertson, Marshall’s chief counsel, said the legislation and the settlement will complement each other.
“That legislation did not reach a platform like Roblox, so we’ve achieved something in this settlement that will not require legislative action but will complement what they’ve been trying to do,” Robertson said.
The settlement also requires the game to limit users under 16 and those who haven’t verified their ages to a default game mode that only includes content verified by Roblox. Parents can sign off to allow their children to access the full game.
Roblox will encourage parents and children to set up parent accounts to manage minors’ accounts.
Robertson said the restrictions imposed by the settlement are another tool for parents, not a failsafe measure to protect their children.
“My takeaway from this as a mom is that Roblox is meeting parents halfway, but there is still an extremely important role for parents to play,” Robertson said. “So I don’t want anyone to read a news article about today’s press conference and think that they can be hands off. This platform, like any platform that is internet accessible, is always going to have to deal with emerging threats, and if it’s not Roblox, it’s going to be another one.”
The AG’s office also announced an email – [email protected] – designated to address questions and concerns about the settlement.
The terms of the settlement are valid for four years.