Hindenburg Research on Saturday accused online gaming platform Roblox of allowing users to solicit content related to child sexual exploitation or solicit sexual favors with children on its group chat walls.
The US-based short seller shared the claims in a post on social media platform or sexual favors with children (many use sparsely coded language). The list is not exhaustive. It only took us an hour and a half to find this one, and there are many more.”
Roblox’s CEO David Baszucki today on CNBC called the platform a “beacon for security and civility.”
We found over 50 currently active Roblox group chat walls, with no age restrictions, where users are asking for child sexual exploitation content or sexual favors… pic.twitter.com/8dOFu1q1jA
— Hindenburg Research (@HindenburgRes) November 1, 2024
The short seller claimed that the gaming company was made aware of these issues long ago, but took no action to resolve the issue. “Roblox was made aware of these issues years ago and has done nothing substantial to address them,” the post said.
Notably, last month, Hindenburg announced a short position in the gaming company, claiming it had inflated metrics such as user numbers and engagement. Roblox engages in user-generated content to increase engagement and makes money from in-game spending on virtual currency.
Hindenburg previously targeted Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and the conglomerate for their involvement in money laundering, along with other allegations. These were vehemently denied by the industrialist.
In September, the short seller leveled new allegations against Securities and Exchange Board of India chairman Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, that they owned shares in the money siphoning scandal involving the Adani group. The report raised conflict of interest claims against Buch, stating that she failed to disclose her real income. These claims were vehemently denied by the couple.
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