With every passing day, Roblox feels like less of a game and more of a social experiment going tragically wrong. Because it has a well-publicized child predator problem, some users are taking it upon themselves to impersonate kids and try to run sting operations.
But to do so, these vigilantes misrepresent their age, approach other users and initiate sexual conversations, breaking the very rules of conduct they're supposed to be upholding. Believe it or not, an investigation led by Skibidi Rizz is probably not going to hold up in a court of law. One of the best-known vigilantes, Schlep, is speaking out after Roblox removed him for violating its terms of service.
Schlep, who said his work has led to six arrests, accuses Roblox of unfairly comparing him to predators. He said he began his work after being groomed on Roblox as a child. He's reached out to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz for help in continuing his mission.
Roblox said the vigilante behavior has flooded its platform with behavior that is impossible to distinguish from actual predators.
"We have been monitoring vigilante activity on Roblox for some time. These groups began by reporting safety concerns, commenting on news about Roblox, and challenging us to do better," Roblox said in a statement. "We appreciated this feedback and used these reports to improve our safety systems. More recently, vigilante activity evolved. Instead of just reporting on safety issues, vigilantes started impersonating children and actively sought to connect with adult users. Those conversations mimicked inappropriate behavior and actively encouraged other users to connect on other social media and messaging platforms—thus bypassing Roblox’s own safety systems."
Critics counter that Roblox's efforts aren't working. In a case making headlines around the world, a 10-year-old California girl was kidnapped by a man she met while playing Roblox. Police later found her at the man's home. The girl's family is now suing both Roblox and Discord, where the pair exchanged messages that led to her abduction.
While Roblox obviously has problems, these vigilante investigations don't often yield the desired result. Even Chris Hansen, the man who made predator stings famous, lost his hit NBC series To Catch A Predator after one went tragically wrong.
In 2006, the To Catch A Predator team tried to get Bill Conradt to come to a house and meet a decoy posing as an underage boy. When he didn't go the house, Hansen decided for the first time to break the show's format and go to Conradt's residence with a SWAT team. In the resulting chaos, Conradt committed suicide. NBC cancelled the Predator segments on Dateline and paid an undisclosed amount to Conradt's family.