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Two child advocacy organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday asking the agency to investigate Roblox $RBLX +1.46% for practices they say exploit children for profit and expose them to harm. Fairplay and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation submitted the request, which alleges Roblox is violating Section 5 of the FTC Act through unfair and deceptive practices and calls on the commission to examine the platform's compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
According to the filing, Roblox is accused on two fronts: misleading parents and the public about how safe the platform actually is, and using unfair tactics to push young users toward spending money to unlock in-game advantages. The filing also asks the FTC to scrutinize Roblox's virtual currency system, which the groups say obscures real-world costs from children. Access to in-game items requires users to first acquire Robux, a virtual currency proprietary to Roblox. Adding to the confusion, the dollar value of Robux shifts over time, and individual games frequently introduce additional layers of in-game currency on top of Robux, according to Bloomberg. Roblox does not allow users to convert Robux back into dollars.
