Roblox, Discord users alleging childhood sexual abuse fight arbitration bid

By Diana Novak Jones

Oct 28 (Reuters) - A group of people who say they were sexually abused as children by adults they met on the gaming platform Roblox are urging a federal judge to reject the company’s effort to send their lawsuits to arbitration, saying the cases belong in a public courtroom.

In a filing on Tuesday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said federal law bars Roblox RBLX.N and chat platform Discord, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuits, from enforcing clauses in the sites’ terms and conditions that require disputes to be decided outside of court.

A federal law, the End Forced Arbitration Act, shields victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment from being forced to arbitrate claims over their abuse, and it applies to the claims brought by the victims, the lawyers said.

A spokesperson for Discord declined to comment on the litigation but said the company maintains "strong systems intended to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on our platform."

A Roblox spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both companies have said in court filings that the law was written for workplace harassment disputes and does not apply to lawsuits against online services over alleged conduct by their users.

Roblox and Discord are facing 180 lawsuits brought by people who say they were groomed by adults who connected with minors on Roblox and then often moved their conversations to Discord, using the platforms to coerce the children into sending sexual content or make plans to meet up in person, court records show. The cases, which accuse the companies of failing to take action to make their platforms safer, have been centralized before US District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco.

The companies deny they are liable for the actions of their users. They have also sought to force all of the cases into arbitration, arguing that the users repeatedly agreed to the sites’ terms.

Arbitration is favored by corporations because it is typically thought of as a more business-friendly venue than courts. Clauses requiring arbitration have become increasingly common in terms and conditions or terms of use customers sign to use a product or service.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs say pushing the cases into a private venue favors the companies because it keeps details about what they knew about the abuse on their platforms from the public eye.

Seeborg said in August he would hold a hearing on the question in January.

The case is In Re: Roblox Corporation Child Sexual Exploitation and Assault Litigation, US District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:25-md-03166.

For plaintiffs: Sarah London of Girard Sharp

For Discord: Ambika Kumar of Davis Wright Tremaine

For Roblox: Tiana Demas of Cooley