Hindenburg Research on Saturday accused online gaming platform, Roblox, of allowing users to solicit content related to child sexual exploitation or seek sexual favours with children on its group chat walls.
Sharing the claims in a post on social media platform, X , formerly known as Twitter, the US-based short seller said, “We found over 50 Roblox group chat walls that are active right now, with no age restrictions, where users are soliciting child sexual exploitation content or sexual favors with children (many using thinly-coded language). The list is not exhaustive. It took us only about an hour and a half to find these and there are many more.”
Roblox’s CEO David Baszucki was on CNBC today calling the platform a "a beacon for safety and civility".
— Hindenburg Research (@HindenburgRes) November 1, 2024
We found over 50 Roblox group chat walls that are active right now, with no age restrictions, where users are soliciting child sexual exploitation content or sexual favors… pic.twitter.com/8dOFu1q1jA
The short seller alleged that the gaming company was made aware of these issues long back, however, it took no action to resolve the issue. “Roblox was made aware of these issues years ago and has done nothing substantive to address them,” the post read.
Notably, last month, Hindenburg disclosed a short position on the gaming company alleging that it inflated metrics such as user numbers and engagement. Roblox is involved in user-generated content to increase engagement and earns from in-game spending on virtual currency.
Hindenburg earlier targeted Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and conglomerate for being involved in money laundering, along with other allegations. These were vehemently denied by the industrialist.
In September, the short seller raised fresh allegations against the Securities and Exchange Board of India Chair, Madhabi Puri Buch, and her husband, Dhaval Buch, that they owned share in the money siphoning scandal related to the Adani group. The report raised conflict of interest claims against Buch and stated that she failed to disclose her real income. These claims were vehemently denied by the couple.
