The Roblox Corporation are suing a long-banned user who they claim is the leader of a "cybermob" that has "terrorised" Roblox players and developers. They lawsuit claims Benjamin Robert Simon (a YouTuber also known as "Ruben Sim") has cyberbullied and harassed Roblox employeees, engaed in sexual harassment on the platform, and even posted "terrorist threats" that got police involved and briefly shut down an in-person Roblox conference.
As reported by Polygon, Simon was permanently banned from Roblox a few years ago for homophobia, harassment of employees, and posting pornographic content on the platform. However, he reportedly uses hacks and other users' accounts to continue playing.
This only scratches the top of the list of accusations in the lawsuit (that you can read in full here), which adds that he allegedly posted a fake terrorist threat that temporarily stopped the 2021 Roblox Developers Conference in San Francisco (which they say cost them $50,000 to investigate). They also claim he glamourised the shooting at YouTube's headquarters in 2018 and threatened "a copycat act of terrorism" at Roblox's HQ.
The suit alleges that he's violated Roblox's terms of use a number of times too, "by engaging in sexual conversation with users, discussing sex acts, engaging in sexual harassment, singling out users and groups for ridicule or abuse," and more.
"Defendant Benjamin Robert Simon is the leader of a 'cybermob' that with malice, fraud, and oppression, commits and encourages unlawful acts designed to injure Roblox and its users," the suit says.
Further from that, Roblox's lawyers allege that he brags about his attacks on Roblox and its developers on Twitter and in YouTube videos, inciting followers in this "cybermob" to copy his actions and post their own threatening messages.
As a result of these actions, the lawsuit claims Roblox Corp have "suffered the loss of existing and prospective relationships in the form of decreased attendance at RDC 2021 and decreased participation on the Roblox Platform".
The company are suing Simon for fraud, breach of contract, interference, and multiple violations of computer data acts. They're demanding a trial by jury, seeking damages of $1.65 million (around £1.2 million), and an end to the harassment of Roblox's players and employees.
