Sen. Gounardes, Child Safety Advocates: Flood of Child Exploitation Cases Against Roblox Demands Urgent Action – The New York State Senate (.gov)

Report on Legislative Action to Combat Online Child Exploitation in Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: The Urgent Need for Child Protection in Digital Environments

A global crisis of online child sexual exploitation and abuse necessitates urgent legislative action to protect vulnerable populations and advance key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With over 300 million children worldwide victimized annually and reports of child sexual abuse material reaching a record high of 36 million per year, the failure of online platforms to ensure user safety represents a significant barrier to achieving SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), particularly Target 16.2, which calls for an end to abuse, exploitation, and all forms of violence against children. This report details the growing problem, focusing on online gaming platforms, and analyzes a proposed legislative solution in New York State as a model for institutional accountability.

Case Study: Systemic Failures on the Roblox Platform

The online gaming platform Roblox, where over 40% of users are under the age of 13, has been identified as a significant area of concern. Recent events and data underscore the platform’s inability to self-regulate and protect its young user base, directly contravening principles of child safety and well-being (SDG 3).

• In 2023, Roblox reported over 13,000 instances of child exploitation and responded to 1,300 law enforcement requests for information.
• High-profile officials, including Kentucky’s Attorney General, have described the platform as a “playground for predators.”
• Investigations have been launched by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, including Florida and the Netherlands, over child welfare concerns and allegations of sexual coercion.
• Independent research has revealed a proliferation of inappropriate content and user accounts, with one firm describing the site as “an X-rated pedophile hellscape.”

Legislative Response: The New York Children’s Online Safety Act

In response to this crisis, New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic have sponsored the New York Children’s Online Safety Act (S4609/A6549). The bill aims to create a strong institutional framework (SDG 16) for protecting minors online by shifting the responsibility from parents to technology companies. The core provisions of the proposed law include:

1. Age Assurance: Requiring online platforms to utilize commercially reasonable methods to verify the age of their users.
2. Default Safety Settings: Mandating that chat functions between minors and unvetted adults are turned off by default. Children’s profiles would be set to private, preventing viewing by strangers.
3. Parental Oversight and Consent: Requiring parental approval for friend requests for users under 13, allowing parents to view a child’s friend list, and mandating parental approval for any financial transactions.
4. Enforcement: Empowering the New York State Attorney General to enforce the law and pursue damages of $5,000 per violation, thereby creating a mechanism for justice and accountability.

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The New York Children’s Online Safety Act is directly aligned with several critical SDGs, providing a tangible framework for their implementation at a sub-national level.

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: The legislation directly serves Target 16.2 by establishing a robust legal and institutional mechanism to prevent and penalize the exploitation and abuse of children in digital spaces.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: By mitigating exposure to online predators, grooming, and abusive content, the Act safeguards the mental health and well-being of children, contributing to Target 3.4. The support from organizations like Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) highlights the critical link between online safety and preventing self-harm.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The Act contributes to Target 8.7 by creating safeguards against online activities that are often precursors to child trafficking and other worst forms of child labor and exploitation.

Stakeholder Perspectives and Support

A coalition of advocacy groups, experts, and parents has voiced strong support for the legislation, underscoring the societal consensus on the need for greater corporate accountability in achieving child safety goals.

• Common Sense Media: Praised the bill for requiring accurate age assurance methods to keep predators away from children and building upon New York’s previous online safety laws.
• Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA): Stressed the necessity for lawmakers to hold companies accountable for failing to implement basic protective measures for children.
• ParentsTogether Action: Highlighted the bill’s role in providing parents with essential tools and transparency while holding tech companies responsible for creating safe digital environments.
• Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE): Emphasized the real-world mental health consequences of online exploitation and framed the legislation as providing necessary “guardrails” that technology companies have failed to build themselves.

Conclusion: A Framework for Corporate Accountability and Child Safety

The pervasive failure of online platforms to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation constitutes a severe violation of human rights and a significant impediment to global development goals. The New York Children’s Online Safety Act offers a comprehensive legislative model that prioritizes child safety over corporate profits. By mandating age assurance, default privacy settings, and parental controls, the bill provides a strong framework for accountability that aligns directly with the objectives of SDG 16 and SDG 3. Its passage would represent a critical step in establishing safer, more just, and healthier digital communities for children.

SDGs Addressed or Connected

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

• The article’s primary focus is on protecting children from online violence, abuse, and exploitation, which is a core component of SDG 16. It discusses the failure of online platforms (institutions) to ensure safety and proposes legislative action (the New York Children’s Online Safety Act) and legal enforcement to create justice for victims and hold tech companies accountable.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• The article links the issue of online exploitation to severe mental health outcomes. The inclusion of a statement from Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) explicitly connects the “exploitation, coercion, and harmful content online” to “real-world consequences,” including suicide risk. This highlights the threat to children’s mental health and well-being, which is central to SDG 3.

Specific SDG Targets Identified

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

1. Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.
   • The article directly addresses this target by highlighting “near-constant instances of child sexual abuse and exploitation on Roblox and other online gaming platforms.” It quantifies the problem by stating that “300 million children worldwide are victims of some type of online sexual exploitation and abuse.” The proposed legislation is a direct measure aimed at ending this form of violence against children.
2. Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and sub-national levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.
   • The article details the “New York Children’s Online Safety Act (S4609/A6549)” as a legislative tool to establish the rule of law in the digital space. The provision that enforcement “would be vested in the New York State Attorney General, who would be empowered to pursue damages of $5,000 per violation” is a specific mechanism to promote law and ensure access to justice for child victims.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

1. Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
   • This target is relevant due to the statement from the CEO of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), who notes, “As a national suicide prevention organization, we see the real-world consequences when children are exposed to exploitation.” This connects the online abuse directly to the risk of suicide and severe harm to mental well-being, framing the proposed law as a preventative measure to protect children’s mental health.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied

Indicators for SDG 16

• Number of reported instances of child exploitation on online platforms: The article provides a specific figure that can be used as an indicator, stating that Roblox “reported over 13,000 instances of child exploitation in 2023 alone.”
• Number of law enforcement requests related to child exploitation: The text mentions that Roblox “responded to 1,300 requests for information from law enforcement,” which serves as an indicator of the severity of criminal activity on these platforms.
• Global prevalence of online child sexual exploitation: The article cites the statistic that “More than 300 million children worldwide are victims of some type of online sexual exploitation and abuse,” which acts as a global baseline indicator for Target 16.2.
• Volume of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports: The article notes that “reports of child sexual abuse material recently reached a record high of more than 36 million per year,” a key metric for tracking the scale of the problem.
• Implementation of protective legislation: The proposal and potential passage of the “New York Children’s Online Safety Act” itself serves as an indicator of progress towards establishing legal frameworks (Target 16.3) to protect children.

Indicators for SDG 3

• Suicide mortality rate (implied): While a specific rate is not provided, the direct involvement of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) implies that online exploitation is a contributing factor to youth suicide. The organization’s support for the bill suggests that such legislation is a tool for suicide prevention, making the youth suicide rate a relevant, though indirectly mentioned, indicator.

Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: nysenate.gov