Chris Hansen, a well-known journalist and child safety advocate known for his show “To Catch a Predator,” was speaking at the CrimeCon event in Las Vegas when he encountered an unexpected roadblock in the Roblox game.
During a live panel discussion, Hansen entered the Ro-Meet public chat via a demo account to demonstrate how attackers could easily contact children. When a random user asked if his avatar was on Snapchat, the reporter asked a rhetorical question about moving communications outside of the platform. Immediately thereafter, Roblox suspended the account for “serious or repeated rule violations.”
The incident prompted a backlash on social media and mounting pressure on the company from U.S. senators and international regulators concerned about protecting minors.