Petition for Roblox CEO's removal hits 50K signatures after growing community outrage

A petition for the removal of Roblox CEO David Baszucki has reached 50,000 signatures after the platform targeted a 22-year-old predator hunting YouTuber with a cease and desist letter.

Roblox has been caught up in a recent controversy after the platform sent a cease and desist letter to YouTuber "Schlep" who is known for his investigations into child predators lurking on the Roblox platform. Schlep's investigations have resulted in multiple arrests in real-life of child predators attempting to groom Roblox players, with Schlep saying in a recent video that he has directly influenced the arrest of six people using the Roblox ecosystem for nefarious grooming activity.

Schlep said in his recent video that he experienced grooming by an individual on Roblox when he was younger and that one of his main motivations behind his vigilante activities on Roblox is to prevent what happened to him from happening to other children using the platform. Despite Schlep's efforts, Roblox claims the YouTuber is "engaging in simulated child endangerment conversations, sharing or soliciting personally identifiable information (PII), [and] directing users to move conversations off-platform."

Following Schlep's video the Change.org petition was made calling for the removal of Roblox CEO David Baszucki, with the petition stating in its description, "Roblox is supposed to be a safe and creative space for children. But under the leadership of CEO David Baszucki, that safety has been repeatedly compromised. Instead of prioritizing the protection of young users, Roblox Corporation continues to allow harmful and exploitative behavior to thrive on its platform - with little accountability or transparency."

The petition can be viewed here.