Roblox's child-safety problem is now a bookings problem

Los Angeles gets to prove it

Los Angeles County's child-exploitation suit against Roblox is going forward. On 23 September 2026, Judge Dean Kitchens denied the company's anti-SLAPP and dismissal motions↗, finding the county "has demonstrated a probability of success on the merits with respect to each challenged claim" ¹². The judge held the marketing at issue is commercial speech, from "a company which generates over a billion dollars of revenue each year," not protected expression ¹.

The stakes: two versions of the audience

The county puts the platform at more than 151 million daily users, over 40 percent of them under 13, and counts nearly 75 percent of US children aged 9 to 12 as regular players ¹. Roblox's own second-quarter count was 123 million daily users, down 7 percent from the first quarter ³. Creators earned about $1.7 billion in the year through 30 June ⁴⁵; the stock trades at $49.84 against a 52-week high of $142, on a $33.39 billion market cap ⁶.

The safety bill already arrived

One day before the Los Angeles ruling, a Tennessee chancery court kept that state's consumer case alive↗ over Roblox's safety promises, from reviewing every uploaded file before it went live to round-the-clock moderators ⁷. The spending has line items already: Alabama and West Virginia settled for more than $23 million combined, Nevada for $10 million, and Roblox says it has spent $12 million on facial age checks ⁴⁸.

On 30 July, management guided third-quarter bookings to $1.58–1.65 billion against a $1.77 billion consensus↗, naming new safety measures and a recommendation-algorithm change as the drags, and shares fell 14 percent after hours ³. Los Angeles wants penalties up to $2,500 per violation per day, plus an injunction that would compel more of the same spending ¹.

Families routed to private rooms

In filings this week, Roblox and Discord asked courts to send the personal suits to arbitration↗, arguing the federal End Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act does not apply without a "sexual act" or "contact" ⁹. Some 182 federal cases were pending as of 1 September, and at least 10 state attorneys general have sued ⁴. Senators Durbin, Blumenthal and Gillibrand told a California appeals court the act was written for exactly this ⁸.

Roblox's answer

The company strongly disputes the county's claims, calls safety core to the platform and notes users cannot send or receive images via chat ¹. The Tennessee order decides nothing on the merits ⁷, and the state settlements do not establish liability ⁴. Needham raised its target to $55 on 23 September, against a $60.79 consensus ⁶.

What to watch

The third-quarter print will test the lowered guide ³, then lawyers convene in Los Angeles on 13 November ¹. By management's own account the safety spend is denting bookings; the arbitration fight decides whether the other bill, the one families are suing over, is ever totalled in public.