As a now adult, and older sibling to a younger child below 16, I believe that David Baszucki would be allowing predators and pedophiles to freely roam the platform known as Roblox if he continues pushing "online dating". When first created, Roblox was designed as a platform for children to make and play games and form a community. Later, it was made for everyone. However, in recent years, there have been updates that make the game unsafe for everyone.

By adding User-Generated Content (UGC) to the general public of the platform, the little to none moderation have allowed inappropriate and unsafe avatar accessories (clothes, body parts, and accessories). These can range from hyper realistic sexual body parts (breasts and penises) to harmful actions (self harm, promoting harassment/bigotry to others, and eating disorders). Now, there are people who do not abuse the free will of modeling avatar accessories for ill purposes. However, despite these  good-hearted people, there are just too many using and making these avatar items for degeneracy.

Roblox moderation doesn't even bother getting rid of these. Nor do they permanently ban these modelers. Even worse, they allow "condo"  games which are disguised as "hang out" or "chill" places to chat with friends or make new ones. However, these are actually sex games. They have beds and suggestive animations that mimic sexual positions and acts. They also have in-game models to make your avatar "wear" breasts or penises or buttocks. Now, these games don't last long, but the ones that do, hide very well and even though they are reported, Roblox moderation does very little to take action.

But, these "condo" games aren't always just there own genre. They can hide in games like MeepCity and Royal High, games that children flock to for their entertainment, whimsical imagination, and role-playability.  These games held secret "parties" that players made to behave sexually. That function was made strictly by the player base, not the developers. People like these congregate and collaborate off-site on large scale social platforms like Discord. Even then, there are art games like Free Draw that allow the user to draw literally anything. ANYTHING. The developers of the game itself let pedophiles who draw child porn off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a (at MAX) week long ban from the game before they're allowed back. Worse, these people can go to the Free Draw Discord server to appeal their bans, and these pedo apologists of developers will get rid of the ban if it is appealed. There is a plethora of other games with similar problems, and Roblox does nothing.

Why?

Because it makes them a lot of money. They profit off grooming. They profit off predators. Off pedophiles. Off degenerates who prey on children. The same goes with Discord and these Roblox "condo servers" with things like "server boosts" that promote the server with real money, which gives profit to Discord.

The public online have addressed their concerns and disagreements with new updates. They have begged for better moderation to make the platform safer and reduce the risk to the player base. But Roblox doesn't listen. Now, David Baszucki is adamantly trying to promote online dating within Roblox. Since 2023, when the idea was first introduced, it was immediately met with criticisms and backlash. But, Baszucki didn't back down. He's still talking about raising the age limit to +17 so that people can date and combat the "loneliness epidemic". Despite the supposed "age limit" that would come with this, children can simply lie. They can get around the age verifications by using another family members' identification, an older friend's ID, a family friend's ID, or even use generative AI to get around these restrictions.

But, Baszucki is doing this to practically cover his own ass. By raising the age limit, he could say it's the fault of the legal guardian for allowing their child on a site with age restriction. 

We can't let Roblox take a plummet like this. It's been going downhill for years by the lackluster moderation and terrible updates that ruin the platform. Roblox is a beloved site for large and small developers with a massive player base. Not everything on Roblox is bad, though. The main problems everyone, online and off, have with the game is the terrible moderation, the grooming/predatory actions, "condo" developers/games, and inappropriate avatar accessories.

We need to take action and force the Roblox company to protect the site and their consumers because this has gone on for too long. Protect the players from David Baszucki's ideas for this site to keep it safe for everyone. If you want to know more about the multitude of situations, I will link YouTubers and articles at the bottom as they go more in depth.

www.youtube.com/@greenlegocats123 - Greenlegocats123 makes many videos talking about Roblox and their lack of moderation.

www.youtube.com/@NoTextToSpeech - No Text To Speech makes videos on Discord and their flaws, along with their lack of moderation as well.

www.youtube.com/@KreekCraft - KreekCraft is a very popular Roblox YouTuber with a massive fanbase and has been calling out Roblox for their poor judgement and updates.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/8/23864858/roblox-ceo-prediction-adults-dating-experiences-rdc-2023 - The Verge "Roblox wants to be a dating app"

https://www.globaldatinginsights.com/featured/roblox-ceo-plans-age-gated-dating-app-experience/ - Global Dating Insight "Roblox CEO Plan Age-Gated Dating App Experiences"