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[Holammer]

"Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids"

That's the title of a lengthy report posted by Hindenburg Research yesterday. Everyone knew the platform had problems, but this is going to hurt the company.
There's a lot of claims, but they seem to have receipts for all of them. Problems including massive botting activities and over-reporting Daily Active User numbers. Allegations of Roblox being aware of the true number of unique users but still presenting false numbers publicly.

Then there's the sex stuff. Read for yourself, there's a smörgåsbord of crazy there.

Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids – Hindenburg Research

hindenburgresearch.com

 

[ResilientBanana]

There's a very easy way to combat this and it's utilizing the users driver's license, along with a selfie, to screen against sex offender lists. This includes children that don't have an ID, combatting account creation. Parents should have to provide their ID and email for underage accounts and communications between underage kids and adults shouldn't be possible. If allowed, all communications should be undeletable and flagged if they reach a certain level utilizing AI to screen conversations. Any sort of flagged conversations should then be sent to the parents email. Sure, maybe these things won't completely remove pedophiles from the platform, but it will make them think twice about creating an account. You could then group them with other pedophiles and make it so they are not able to see or communicate with the children they are playing with. Lastly, for underage accounts, all account changes need to be verified by an adult along with that same ID and photo, but the photo will have to be new.

Sure it may violate privacy, but that's how you keep kids safe. Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

EDIT: this is what I mean

I'm a dad, so it do be like that. Kid's make stupid decisions constantly. So I believe everything should be reported to the parent. AI is technically the privacy portion so another human isn't screening conversations just in case a pedo works at Roblox..

Anyone under 18 will most likely disagree with this, but anyone with kids will understand and appreciate it. Not every parent has the time to review who their kids are talking to and what they're talking about. AI, in this form, is a great tool for that. I also don't mean that their privacy should be violated by the company, but it should tattle to the parents for sure. As it is, kids are getting into this mess in the first place and communicating with adults that want to have relations with them. Clearly you can't trust kids, especially if they are disappearing.

 

[HRK69]

Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

 

[Robb]

Not surprised in the slightest by any of this. I’d never let my kids touch it, and thankfully they don’t seem to care despite friends being allowed to play it.

 

[digital_ghost]

Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

 

[killatopak]

They’re just scraping the surface. I know how much shit is in cause my relatives, their friends and practically everyone in their school are knee deep on Roblox

Sad thing is they don’t care a bit. They have blinders where they’re laser focused on just having fun. I’m not surprised though, they’re just kids. I just wish it was better supervised server side.

 

[Corian33]

My kids play on Roblox but first thing I did was turn off all communications. No chat, no nothing.

There’s tons of garbage games on there, but there are also some pretty impressive free games. Easy way to game with my kids until they graduate to proper games.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I'm a dad, so it do be like that. Kid's make stupid decisions constantly. So I believe everything should be reported to the parent. AI is technically the privacy portion so another human isn't screening conversations just in case a pedo works at Roblox..

 

[cash_longfellow]

Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

 

[StereoVsn]

Not surprised in the slightest by any of this. I’d never let my kids touch it, and thankfully they don’t seem to care despite friends being allowed to play it.

Yep, same here. Seems to be a cesspool.

 

[{insert code here}]

There's a very easy way to combat this and it's utilizing the users driver's license, along with a selfie, to screen against sex offender lists. This includes children that don't have an ID, combatting account creation. Parents should have to provide their ID and email for underage accounts and communications between underage kids and adults shouldn't be possible. If allowed, all communications should be undeletable and flagged if they reach a certain level utilizing AI to screen conversations. Any sort of flagged conversations should then be sent to the parents email. Sure, maybe these things won't completely remove pedophiles from the platform, but it will make them think twice about creating an account. You could then group them with other pedophiles and make it so they are not able to see or communicate with the children they are playing with.

Sure it may violate privacy, but that's how you keep kids safe. Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

It's so bizarre to me that a lot of these companies put zero effort into protecting kids. I mean yeah, you're not going to be able to guarantee 100% safety but, you should be putting up barriers (at the bare minimum).

My personal opinion is adults should not be able to talk to, or chat with kids online. Period, the end. 400k + children go missing every year and a lot of those stories begin online on platforms like this one. It's unreal.

Are they worried their MAU's are going to tank if they implemented any of the ideas you suggested and if so wtf does that say about our society and some of the people in it .

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

 

[rm082e]

The shell game of MAU - I think this is probably the case for every single company that measures and reports an MAU number, so whatever.

The pedo stuff - If you're worried about it, don't allow your kids to play. My kids were into it for a few years, I had some simple ground rules on communication and the in-app settings, and it was never a problem.

 

[Astray]

Whenever Hindenburg posts a report about your business, you're in for a world of hurt.

Roblox's big problem is sort of similar to Steam's, but to a far worse extent: They want margin, so they go with the lowest possible content moderation standards, this way they can get away with getting as little of a moderation team as possible.

This is predictably biting them in the ass because they clearly are going for the child demo (unlike Valve), and you can't have kids on a platform without very heavy moderation and compliance.

 

[Holammer]

It's so bizarre to me that a lot of these companies put zero effort into protecting kids. I mean yeah, you're not going to be able to guarantee 100% safety but, you should be putting up barriers (at the bare minimum).

My personal opinion is adults should not be able to talk to, or chat with kids online. Period, the end. 400k + children go missing every year and a lot of those stories begin online on platforms like this one. It's unreal.

Are they worried their MAU's are going to tank if they implemented any of the ideas you suggested and if so wtf does that say about our society and some of the people in it .

20 years ago some of the claims in the report would result in senate hearings. Here's a litany of them and there's hardly any reaction.

 

[Astray]

There's a very easy way to combat this and it's utilizing the users driver's license, along with a selfie, to screen against sex offender lists. This includes children that don't have an ID, combatting account creation. Parents should have to provide their ID and email for underage accounts and communications between underage kids and adults shouldn't be possible. If allowed, all communications should be undeletable and flagged if they reach a certain level utilizing AI to screen conversations. Any sort of flagged conversations should then be sent to the parents email. Sure, maybe these things won't completely remove pedophiles from the platform, but it will make them think twice about creating an account. You could then group them with other pedophiles and make it so they are not able to see or communicate with the children they are playing with. Lastly, for underage accounts, all account changes need to be verified by an adult along with that same ID and photo, but the photo will have to be new.

Sure it may violate privacy, but that's how you keep kids safe. Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

EDIT: this is what I mean

Anyone under 18 will most likely disagree with this, but anyone with kids will understand and appreciate it. Not every parent has the time to review who their kids are talking to and what they're talking about. AI, in this form, is a great tool for that. I also don't mean that their privacy should be violated by the company, but it should tattle to the parents for sure. As it is, kids are getting into this mess in the first place and communicating with adults that want to have relations with them. Clearly you can't trust kids, especially if they are disappearing.

I don't understand, how is a drivers' license gonna help when we're talking about kids who can't get one?

20 years ago some of the claims in the report would result in senate hearings. Here's a litany of them and there's hardly any reaction.

If the industry continues at this rate we will get a government watchdog, just like what almost happened before the ESRB was established.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I don't understand, how is a drivers' license gonna help when we're talking about kids who can't get one?

Re-read what I wrote. Especially this part

Parents should have to provide their ID and email for underage accounts and communications between underage kids and adults shouldn't be possible.

It would prevent account creation for minors, which in turn provides safety from the situation at hand.

 

[Loomy]

Not to mention, when you're under 18 you don't deserve privacy yet.

I'm a parent. I understand what you're trying to say, but you said it in a not so great way lol.

Your point stands though. When my kid is old enough to carry devices, I'm going to want a report on activities on those devices. Sounds like a shitty situation, but we live in a world where Roblox and Dr. Disrespect exist, so...

Roblox needs a kick in the ass and a couple of teeth punched in though. This isn't news to anyone half paying attention, yet they don't appear to even be attempting to do anything about it.

 

[Tomofdahook17]

That's interesting if this is the case now because I played this a lot back when it was pretty much brand new or so and never ran into any instances of creepiness. It was all juts funny games and nice people.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Jaffe is all GA-GA for this "game"

 

[clarky]

Whenever Hindenburg posts a report about your business, you're in for a world of hurt.

Roblox's big problem is sort of similar to Steam's, but to a far worse extent: They want margin, so they go with the lowest possible content moderation standards, this way they can get away with getting as little of a moderation team as possible.

This is predictably biting them in the ass because they clearly are going for the child demo (unlike Valve), and you can't have kids on a platform without very heavy moderation and compliance.

Aren't Hindenburg short sellers looking to drive down the price of the stocks they are involved in?

 

[RCX]

Theres an idea for a YouTube/twitch channel in this.

The Roblox Predator Hunter.

Would like and subscribe.

 

[Astray]

Aren't Hindenburg short sellers looking to drive down the price of the stocks they are involved in?

Yes they are. But their reports are typically very well-researched and very in-depth.

It's the financial equivalent of a surgeon opening someone's guts up and pointing out every minor detail for everyone to see.

Re-read what I wrote. Especially this part

It would prevent account creation for minors, which in turn provides safety from the situation at hand.

How does that stop a bad actor from submitting his info and claiming it's for his son/daughter?

You have the right intentions but you don't quite grasp how privacy laws and compliance work.

 

[clarky]

Yes they are. But their reports are typically very well-researched and very in-depth.

It's the financial equivalent of a surgeon opening someone's guts up and pointing out every minor detail for everyone to see.


How does that stop a bad actor from submitting his info and claiming it's for his son/daughter?

You have the right intentions but you don't quite grasp how privacy laws and compliance work.

Its in their interest to paint this in a negative light though is what im getting at.

Not saying its not true but to use your analogy it would be like a surgeon opening someone up for everyone to see but getting a bonus if they gave them aids on the sly.

 

[ResilientBanana]

How does that stop a bad actor from submitting his info and claiming it's for his son/daughter?

You have the right intentions but you don't quite grasp how privacy laws and compliance work.

If they're on a sex offender list, approval stops dead in it's tracks, as there are companies that specialize in this exact thing. I use this technology in schools for Visitor management. Like I said, it won't catch all, but it will catch and deter most. Chances are, that son or daughter of the alleged pedophile wont have a roblox account. There's also some bit of confidence that an alleged sex offender doesn't have custody of their kids and has monitored visits.

 

[Dural]

All you have to do is watch your kids play Roblox and you'll see it. There's a game where you can tag things with a spray can, every match there are people painting trans flags and rainbow flags. These are games that 6-12yo are playing, they don't give a shit about any of that garbage. My daughter is the one that showed it to me. She said if she tried to cover them up she got kicked from the game.

My kids play on Roblox but first thing I did was turn off all communications. No chat, no nothing.

There’s tons of garbage games on there, but there are also some pretty impressive free games. Easy way to game with my kids until they graduate to proper games.

Yep, did the same. In games like the one above you can get around it by spray painting messages and I've seen that happen. My kids aren't allowed to play that game anymore.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Yep, did the same. In games like the one above you can get around it by spray painting messages and I've seen that happen. My kids aren't allowed to play that game anymore.

Started getting my daughter into games this year, and I really want her to appreciate quality games.

Astro Bot and Mario Wonder so far.

Hopefully by the time her friends introduce her to this trash she’ll greet them with…

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It's so bizarre to me that a lot of these companies put zero effort into protecting kids.

Because they don’t care, kids are money to them.

 

[chakadave]

If you think this is limited to Roblox you are insane.

This is a parental issue. Parents are uneducated when it comes to cyber security, information security, operational security and coms security.

 

[Astray]

Its in their interest to paint this in a negative light though is what im getting at.

Not saying its not true but to use your analogy it would be like a surgeon opening someone up for everyone to see but getting a bonus if they gave them aids on the sly.

Yep.

Generally these short sellers never go after actually healthy companies though.

 

[GHG]

Aren't Hindenburg short sellers looking to drive down the price of the stocks they are involved in?

Yes, but that's because they believe the companies they report they've investigated are guilty of wrongdoing 9 times out of 10.

Firms like this exist to "police" the markets and weed out the crap so that when the average Joe invests in index funds, they are not indirectly supporting businesses like the one described in the OP and aiding them in continuing illegal activity and/or fraud.

Ultimately the businesses in question still have an opportunity to come clean and fix things, short reports like this don't necessarily mean the end.

 

[clarky]

Yes, but that's because they believe the companies they report they've investigated are guilty of wrongdoing 9 times out of 10.

Firms like this exist to "police" the markets and weed out the crap so that when the average Joe invests in index funds, they are not indirectly supporting businesses like the one described in the OP and aiding them in continuing illegal activity and/or fraud.

Ultimately the businesses in question still have an opportunity to come clean and fix things

They exist to make a profit for themselves no?

I dont think they are doing it to save the children.
Maybe im wrong i don't know no a great deal about them.

 

[GHG]

They exist to make a profit for themselves no?

I dont think they are doing it to save the children.
Maybe im wrong i don't no a great deal about them.

Yes, but so have plenty of people including the executives who will have been privy to all of this stuff while the stock has (unjustly) been moving up.

Roblox director Gregory Baszucki sells shares worth over $620k By Investing.com

Roblox director Gregory Baszucki sells shares worth over $620k

www.investing.com

It's not to save the children specifically. Of course they seek to profit from the light they shed on companies like this, but ultimately the work they do ends up in companies needing to correct course or ultimately go under if they keep doing what they are doing (which wouldn't be a bad thing).

 

[clarky]

Yes, but so have plenty of people including the executives who will have been privy to all of this stuff while the stock has (unjustly) been moving up.

Roblox director Gregory Baszucki sells shares worth over $620k By Investing.com

Roblox director Gregory Baszucki sells shares worth over $620k

www.investing.com

Oh im not saying Roblox isnt a shitty company, by all accounts it seems to be.

My point was this "report" serves its authors best interests first disguised as fighting the good fight, at a glance that is. Like i said i haven't read too much into it.

Pick a shitty company, short the living shit out of it, release a damaging report that you probably already had the information on before you shorted. Profit.

Sounds close to insider trading to me.

 

[GHG]

Oh im not saying Roblox isnt a shitty company, by all accounts it seems to be.

My point was this "report" serves its authors best interests first disguised as fighting the good fight, at a glance that is. Like i said i haven't read too much into it.

Pick a shitty company, short the living shit out of it, release a damaging report that you probably already had the information on before you shorted.

Sounds close to insider trading to me.

Insider trading is something completely different, this isn't that. Anyone is free to investigate any company they wish to invest in (or short) and then take a position on said company while also informing other people of what they've found out. For it to be insider trading they would need to be affiliated with the company and privy to information that is confidential.

If you want to know something funny, companies who have previously been caught in the crossfire have attempted to report Hindenberg for "insider trading" (typically as a deflection tactic or to buy themselves more time) to no avail.

 

[clarky]

Insider trading is something completely different, this isn't that. Anyone is free to investigate any company they wish to invest in (or short) and then take a position on said company while also informing other people of what they've found out. For it to be insider trading they would need to be affiliated with the company and privy to information that is confidential.

If you want to know something funny, companies who have previously been caught in the crossfire have attempted to report Hindenberg for "insider trading" (typically as a deflection tactic or to buy themselves more time) to no avail.

Yeah i get it, i said close to.

Kinda cheating if you already know what your report contains and in which direction the market will go before you release it though.

As far as im aware they took a big short position then released the report knowing what it would do. one way to get paid for your work i guess.


Anyone know who else they are investigating right now? lol.

 

[GHG]

Yeah i get it, i said close to.

Kinda cheating if you already know what your report contains and in which direction the market will go before you release it though.

As far as im aware they took a big short position then released the report knowing what it would do. one way to get paid for your work i guess.


Anyone know who else they are investigating right now? lol.

If you want one that could get really spicy in terms of it's implications then it's this one:

Super Micro: Fresh Evidence Of Accounting Manipulation, Sibling Self-Dealing And Sanctions Evasion At This AI High Flyer – Hindenburg Research

hindenburgresearch.com

• Our 3-month investigation, which included interviews with former senior employees and industry experts as well as a review of litigation records, international corporate and customs records, found glaring accounting red flags, evidence of undisclosed related party transactions, sanctions and export control failures, and customer issues.

The reason why - Super Micro are currently Nvidia's 3rd largest customer.

 

[TheAtomicPile]

Yep, did the same. In games like the one above you can get around it by spray painting messages and I've seen that happen. My kids aren't allowed to play that game anymore.

I've noticed that a lot of the sim games my kid liked started to implement an in-game phone with a messenger app that allowed anyone to completely bypass any communication restrictions that a parent would configure for the Roblox app.

I reported it to Roblox a few times but I'm sure my messages went straight into the trash.

We haven't fully taken away Roblox (yet) but it has basically turned into an "only when a parent is playing with you" thing.

 

[TrueLegend]

Hindenburg needs to get researched first. They are doing far worse things than Roblox.

 

[Danjin44]

Roblox!?

googling…….

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Hindenburg Research is an investing meme

 

[bender]

My point was this "report" serves its authors best interests first disguised as fighting the good fight, at a glance that is.

 

[TheDreadBaron]

All you have to do is watch your kids play Roblox and you'll see it. There's a game where you can tag things with a spray can, every match there are people painting trans flags and rainbow flags. These are games that 6-12yo are playing, they don't give a shit about any of that garbage. My daughter is the one that showed it to me. She said if she tried to cover them up she got kicked from the game.



Yep, did the same. In games like the one above you can get around it by spray painting messages and I've seen that happen. My kids aren't allowed to play that game anymore.

Oh no, flags. Better not let your 6 year old find out that some people have two mommies. That could turn them into a trans. Good thing you're teaching your daughter to hate the same "garbage" you're afraid of.

You should probably be worrying about the pedophiles, dude.

 

[Neon Xenon]

Roblox always seems like it's just a few steps away from being called up for a Congressional Hearing.

 

[Jinxed]

Oh no, flags. Better not let your 6 year old find out that some people have two mommies. That could turn them into a trans. Good thing you're teaching your daughter to hate the same "garbage" you're afraid of.

You should probably be worrying about the pedophiles, dude.

Post clearly meant that young children dont tend to draw trans flags... So... Yeah

 

[TheDreadBaron]

Post clearly meant that young children dont tend to draw trans flags... So... Yeah

That's not how I read it. Thanks for chiming in though.

 

[Jinxed]

That's not how I read it. Thanks for chiming in though.

Obviously not since you were quick to jump the gun

 

[Pimpbaa]

Oof.

 

[TheDreadBaron]

Obivously not since you were quick to jump the gun

Ooo spicy, well I'll take you up on that challenge then. I think there's absolutely 12 year olds who are discovering that they are gay and want to express that. There's also older kids that play the game. Dude is afraid of flags, that's pretty clear, and silly.

edit: and this is mentioned in the context of robox being full of predators and pedophiles, maybe you missed that connection?

 

[Dural]

Ooo spicy, well I'll take you up on that challenge then. I think there's absolutely 12 year olds who are discovering that they are gay and want to express that. There's also older kids that play the game. Dude is afraid of flags, that's pretty clear, and silly.

edit: and this is mentioned in the context of robox being full of predators and pedophiles, maybe you missed that connection?

There's always one of you in these threads, probably one of the ones drawing them in a children's game...