Short Seller Alleges Roblox Facilitated 'Widespread' Child Abuse, 'Potentially Played A Role' In Mass Shootings

Roblox Corp RBLX shares are moving lower Thursday after The Bear Cave released another bearish report, alleging the video game company is “facilitating widespread child abuse.”

What To Know: Short-selling firm The Bear Cave has published a new report targeting Roblox for the fourth time since 2022.

The report once again focuses on serious allegations around child abuse across the United States including alleged production of child pornography, child kidnappings and physical abuse.

“In addition, The Bear Cave believes Roblox has potentially played a role in mass shooting events and may be used by foreign actors to spread antisemitism and terrorism,” the short seller said in a report published Thursday morning.

Benzinga contacted Roblox for comment on the report.

Following the initial report from the Bear Cave in 2022, Roblox issued a statement to Benzinga that called the short report misleading and false.

"Since the day we were founded, we have always built a safety-first culture with industry-leading features and functionality designed to ensure our platform provides a safe and civil space for our community,” a spokesperson for Roblox told Benzinga in 2022.

"We have zero tolerance for inappropriate content and behavior in our social spaces. In an effort to eliminate unsafe content, we review every single image, audio file and video before it is published."

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The Bear Cave highlighted several news reports from recent years that suggest predators have used Roblox to abuse “hundreds” of children. The short seller noted that reported cases are just the “tip of the iceberg,” suggesting many child abuse cases related to Roblox go undetected by authorities and media.

The Bear Cave also shared screenshots from videos posted by independent vigilante journalists who conduct sting operations to catch child predators. One video focuses on a Roblox game developer who talks about private communities on Roblox where it’s “relatively common” for people to pursue age gap relationships

“The Bear Cave is also equally disturbed by antisemitic and terroristic content on Roblox, ranging from school shooting games to Holocaust reenactments, some of which may be created by foreign actors,” the short seller said.

The Bear Cave said a Roblox user uploaded a realistic school shooting game to the site. It was reportedly removed before being uploaded a year later and removed again.

The short seller also alleged that the perpetrator of a real-world shooting in a Tops Supermarket in 2022 claimed to have tied his interest in guns to playing Roblox.

The Bear Cave also alleged that Roblox has antisemitism problems on its platform and alleged that Roblox “appears to have allowed Holocaust reenactment games” to be uploaded as recently as 2022. The Bear Cave further alleges that a recently unsealed indictment against Syrian national Mohammad Amr Alhashemi showed that he used Discord and Guilded to recruit children.

“Roblox would also later acquire Guilded in 2021 and was not directly mentioned in the indictment,” the short seller said.

RBLX Price Action: Roblox shares were down 2.04% at $42.51 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Read Next:

• Roblox Responds To Short Seller’s Pedophilia Accusation: ‘Wholly Misleading, False And Irresponsible’

• Roblox Shares Sink On Short Report Saying Gaming Company ‘Has Facilitated More Child Abuse Than Any Public Company In History’

Photo: Shutterstock.