Officials in Florida and New Jersey are scrutinizing popular video game apps Roblox and Discord over child safety concerns. Florida Attorney General James Utmeier issued a subpoena to Roblox Corp. on Wednesday, demanding information about “how the platform advertises to children and what policies, if any, they have in place to prevent interactions with predators,” according to a statement from his office. Roblox, which has 85 million daily users, has been criticized for not doing enough to protect young users, Bloomberg has reported.

The subpoena seeks information about Roblox’s moderation practices, including how the San Mateo, California-based company protects children from harmful content and bad actors, how minors can bypass parental controls and Roblox’s age verification procedures, among other things. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Roblox representative said, “We look forward to working with the attorney general’s office and look forward to sharing everything Roblox is doing to keep its users safe.”

New Jersey Attorney General Sues Discord

Discord, a platform where young people gather to chat about video games and other topics, is also facing fresh scrutiny. On Thursday, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin sued the company, which is used by 200 million people each month, for allegedly overstating the app’s safety features for children. The complaint alleges that Discord assured parents and children that the app’s settings could protect direct messages from predators, but in reality, the company “misled users and parents” and did not actually scan messages between friends.

According to the complaint, even when certain messaging filters were enabled, young people were still exposed to child sexual abuse material, videos depicting violence or terror, and other harmful content. The lawsuit also alleges that Discord does not enforce a minimum age requirement, even though it says it prohibits children under 13 from creating accounts. Discord said it is contesting the claims in the lawsuit and looks forward to defending the lawsuit in court. “Given our cooperation with the attorney general’s office, we are surprised to learn that New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against Discord today,” the company said in a statement. Last year, Discord CEO and co-founder Jason Citron was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. Senate in a hearing on protecting children online.

Roblox and Discord face child safety concerns

The company says it has a strong policy against behavior that could harm children. Bloomberg reports that it is potentially planning an IPO as early as this year. Roblox has released 40 security updates in 2024, the company said earlier this month, touting new tools to help parents monitor how their children interact with strangers. One major change, announced in November, bars children under 13 from accessing “social hangouts,” such as virtual clubs or discussion forums. A Bloomberg Businessweek investigation last July revealed Roblox’s struggles to combat child exploitation. According to the report, U.S. police have arrested more than two dozen people accused of abusing or kidnapping victims they met or groomed on Roblox since 2018. Company officials spoke about the scale of the task of policing the company’s vast user base.