Roblox and Discord sued over social media breach

In a new lawsuit, Roblox and Discord are among the sites accused of causing harm to children and teenagers. The action, which also goes against Meta’s Facebook platform and Snap’s Snapchat, claims that the businesses’ services “contain distinctive product characteristics that are meant to and do induce addiction, as well as illicit content and usage of said goods, to the detriment of their young users.”

The claim, filed in California state court, is one of many filed against giant social media corporations. However, few have covered Discord and Roblox, both of which are popular among young users. It comes just days after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation mandating companies to reform how they treat users under the age of 18, and it follows a UK coroner directly blaming social media for a teenager’s death, albeit not in a way that bears obvious legal ramifications.

According to her attorneys in the Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center, who have brought countless such addiction cases, the kid met adult males through Roblox and Discord’s direct messaging platforms, which she assumed protections protecting her.

This and other cases raise concerns about striking a balance between kid safety and internet privacy. The complaint targets Discord and Roblox, for example, for failing to check users’ ages and identities.

Roblox is a video game platform with over 203 million monthly active players, the majority of whom are children. Young participants on the network have been introduced to radicals, who may take chats elsewhere online, such as Discord or Skype. Whereas, Discord is a video game chat software with 150 million monthly active users. Discord, which was popular among young people, was characterised as an online Wild West.