After a long day at school, eighth grader Ryan Woods logs into his Roblox account through his computer.

“[On Roblox], I personally chat and play games [such as Ink Games, Developer Hub and Grow a Garden],” Woods said. “[As a developer], I generally make games that are [recreational] and not really roleplay-based.”

Roblox is an online gaming platform for kids developed by Roblox CEOs David Baszucki and Erik Cassel. As of 2025, 56% of the app’s users are under 17 years old, while 44% are registered as legal adults, according to the Louisiana Department of Justice. In recent years, Roblox has faced accusations of inappropriate behavior and content, including reports of predatory behavior towards minors and explicit games remaining on the platform. Consequently, Roblox Corporation has initiated safety features to protect children such as parental guardian accounts, where parents can track their child’s game history, and establish private messaging limits for users under 13.

“As a Roblox player, as well as a game developer, I feel that Roblox’s current protection features are okay,” Woods said. “Now, do I see them being implemented? No; I almost never see anyone being banned for doing inappropriate things on the platform, no matter how many times the person is reported. I think they should update the ability for Roblox to catch people saying and doing inappropriate things.”

To counter growing safety concerns, anonymous YouTuber Michael “Schlep” has worked with law enforcement to initiate the arrests of predators on the platform. Also known for his kid-friendly Roblox content on his channel “Maliboomer,” he previously worked with other “predator-catcher” influencers to hold independent investigations on platforms Roblox and Discord, oftentimes posing as a minor to expose illegal activities. With his first arrest premiered on YouTube on Sept. 27, 2024, his investigations — or sting operations — have resulted in the arrests of six predators.

“Schlep made the Roblox community a safer place,” Woods said. “Not only did he get six predators arrested, he also may have deterred other potential predators from affecting the Roblox community.”

However, on Aug. 9, Roblox Corporation sent a cease and desist letter to Schlep banning him from further use of the platform. Though they acknowledged that his actions in the Roblox community had “stated intentions … to protect children,” they said that his sting operations “actively [interfered] with Roblox’s established safety protocols,” since the company had established connections with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the FBI to investigate “suspected child sexual exploitation.”

Since then, Schlep has spoken out against the company through social media platforms YouTube and Twitter. The same day he received the termination notice, he posted the video titled “Roblox Is Threatening to Sue Me For Protecting Kids.” In the video, he criticized Roblox for sending “threats of litigation [for catching] predators on their platform.”

“Every account that I’ve owned on Roblox since I was eight years old has been terminated,” Schlep said in the video. “Accounts that we were actively talking to predators on [during my sting operations] have now been banned off of Roblox. What Roblox did could potentially stop some predators from facing real-life consequences.”

Schlep has hired the Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley law firm to countersue Roblox Corporation. Furthermore, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a lawsuit against the company on Aug. 14.

Woods said he hoped Roblox would face repercussions from the lawsuits placed against the company.

“I honestly do think Roblox deserves [to be sued], as Roblox is not taking proper safety measures for underaged users,” Woods said. “I would most definitely back the idea of a lawsuit against Roblox’s minor safety standard. [Hopefully, the lawsuits] may make [Roblox] unban Schlep and ban predators … [and] may [cause them to] update the safety precautions. Now, as many people on Roblox know, Roblox is extremely ignorant and may not do anything when facing allegations.”

As Schlep’s response video on YouTube gained more traction, many Roblox users voiced their support for the content creator with #FreeSchlep on Twitter. Anonymous user MrMhGaming published an online petition calling for the removal of Baszucki as CEO of Roblox. As of Oct. 8, the petition has reached 289,674 signatures.

“[The corporation] punished … concerned community members [on the platform],” the petition stated. “Instead of listening to the community and acting on their concerns, Roblox has reportedly silenced or banned users who try to raise awareness. This shows a complete disregard for transparency and public accountability.”

Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman issued a statement on Aug. 13 to address the backlash from Roblox users regarding the cease and desist against Schlep. Titled “More on our Removal of Vigilantes From Roblox — Vigilante Behavior Creates an Unsafe Environment for Users,” the article said that independent investigators on Roblox took actions against predators that “violate [Roblox] policies and potentially [create] additional risk”.

“We have been monitoring vigilante activity [to catch predators] on Roblox for some time,” the statement read. “These groups began by reporting safety concerns, commenting on news about Roblox, and challenging us to do better … More recently, vigilante behavior evolved. Instead of just reporting on safety issues, vigilantes started impersonating children and actively sought to connect with adult users. These conversations mimicked inappropriate behavior [seen in grooming cases] … thus bypassing Roblox’s own safety systems.”

Student Resources Officer Valerie Butler said she agreed with Roblox’s reasons for removing Schlep from the platform from a legal standpoint.

“Overall, I think that they’re taking a stance that a lot of online platforms would take,” Butler said. “They don’t want just regular civilian vigilantes trying to bait people [into] doing illegal things, because that can be dangerous and unsafe. It can also cause problems when they are actually trying to arrest these people. In the long run, it can interfere with investigations, [including] official police investigations, or it can cause problems if they want to try to pursue charges on these people.”

However, sophomore Osmond Foust said he disagreed with Roblox’s criticism of vigilante behavior.

“Roblox’s statement against vigilante behavior isn’t even remotely valid,” Foust said. “It isn’t like Schlep is hunting people down, guns blazing. All he’s doing is getting evidence and reporting people to the police, nothing more and nothing less.”

Considering both sides, Butler said she believed minors should be provided with online safety protocols by their legal guardians.

“If you’re operating a gaming platform that you know is attractive to juveniles, I feel like you do have some responsibility as a business to make sure that there are safety measures in place to protect the juveniles,” Butler said. “I also feel like parents have a huge responsibility in setting those parameters online, as far as what their kids can and can’t have accounts for, and what the safety settings are and also monitoring their content. So I understand that every company is different, but I feel like if you do have a company that is geared toward children, that should be at least one component of your business to protect the users.”