Pierre SD – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced a settlement worth up to $15 million with Roblox Corporation on July 13, resolving state claims tied to child safety on the popular gaming and creation platform.
The money will fund South Dakota’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the state Department of Education, after-school programs, and a consumer protection fund, along with a two-year public awareness campaign.
Multi State Action
South Dakota is one of more than a dozen states to take formal action against Roblox in the past year.
Multiple state attorneys general and hundreds of families have alleged the company knew for years that predators were using the platform to contact, groom, and in some cases lure children into abuse off the platform, while continuing to market Roblox as safe for kids.
Roblox reports that roughly two-thirds of American children ages 9 to 12 use the platform.
Legal Actions against Roblox
As of July 2026, 170 individual lawsuits from families are pending in a federal multidistrict litigation centralized in the Northern District of California, created in December 2025.
Separately, attorneys general in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Iowa, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have sued or opened investigations into the company. Roblox has already settled with West Virginia, Alabama, and Nevada for a combined $35.8 million; other states, including Texas and Tennessee, are still actively litigating.
South Dakota’s Settlement with Roblox
South Dakota negotiated a settlement rather than filing suit. Under the four-year agreement, Roblox denies any wrongdoing but commits to a wide range of changes, including:
- Requiring all users to undergo age verification — through facial estimation or a government-issued ID — before they can use chat features
- Blocking chat between adults and users under 16 unless the two are mutual “Trusted Friends,” with parental consent required for Trusted Friend connections involving children under 13
- Restricting users under 16, or anyone whose age hasn’t been verified, to a filtered “Default Content Mode”; users under 9 are limited further to content rated “Minimal” or “Mild”
- Keeping communications involving minors unencrypted, so law enforcement can investigate exploitation cases
- Providing a dedicated South Dakota law enforcement liaison and periodic training for local and regional law enforcement on investigating online child exploitation
- Committing to respond to non-emergency search warrants and subpoenas within seven business days
- Expanding parental controls, including spending limits, chat restrictions, and visibility into a child’s account activity
The agreement also includes a “most favored nation” clause: if Roblox later gives another state a better deal — financially or in terms of safety commitments — South Dakota is entitled to the same terms, with a formal process for resolving any dispute over whether that’s happened.
How SD’s Settlement Breaks Down
Of the settlement funds, $2.6 million is earmarked for South Dakota’s ICAC Task Force within the Attorney General’s Office — the unit that investigates online child exploitation cases statewide, including in western South Dakota.
The Department of Education is set to receive $5 million in two installments — one within two years of the settlement, one within three — with 20 percent of each payment designated for after-school programs.
The agreement does not constitute an admission of liability by Roblox and cannot be used as evidence in other legal proceedings against the company.
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