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Shares of Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) are in red on Friday after multiple reports of backlash against the online gaming platform for not doing enough to protect its young user base against child predators.

RBLX stock is down over 9% in early open market trading on the NYSE.

NBC News reported that the Louisiana attorney general filed a suit against the company on Thursday, alleging that its failure to implement strong safety protocols for children has made it "the perfect place for pedophiles."

According to a report from People, a new federal lawsuit has been filed against Roblox in California alleging that its practices enable child predators to operate without oversight, and the number of lawsuits against the company for child exploitation has crossed over 300.

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© RobloxRoblox is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program and play games created by themselves or other users.
Earlier this week Qatar caved into rising social media pressure and banned the platform, joining the likes of Turkey, Iran, China, Jordan, and Oman to protect children and teenagers.

Qatari authorities acted over concerns of moral and safety threats coming from the platform's virtual spaces, which have led to incidents like "virtual assaults" and "violations of religious and cultural values."

The outrage against Roblox intensified after a YouTuber named "Schlep," a self-styled vigilante with nearly a million subscribers, revealed that his sting operation led to six arrests. The company took control of the situation by sending the YouTuber a cease and desist notice and banning his accounts.

Although not addressing the YouTuber directly, Roblox's safety chief wrote earlier this week that "while seemingly well-intentioned, the vigilantes we've banned have taken actions that are both unacceptable and create an unsafe environment for users."

"Similar to actual predators, they often impersonated minors, actively approached other users, then tried to lead them to other platforms to have sexually explicit conversations (which is against our Terms of Use)."

Analysts at Oppenheimer say the decision to ban vigilante users is defensible from "a policy consistency perspective." However, they note that the current crisis, which is damaging the company's image, highlights the tension between its business model and responsibility to protect younger users.