James Uthmeier links Roblox, Snapchat to child exploitation

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced arrests of accused child predators Friday in Southwest Florida, and he’s tying popular platforms to these types of crimes.

“The emergence of technology is giving these dangerous individuals a feeling of comfort,” the Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee said in Fort Myers.

“This isn’t walking around with hard copy materials where they feel like they’re going to get busted. They believe the screen and the computer and the phones protect them. And that’s why we see more people taking these liberties.”

During his talk, Florida’s top cop spotlighted Snapchat in particular.

“We see technology exposing our kids to more and more dangers. Many of you are probably aware we brought a lawsuit over a week ago against Snapchat,” Uthmeier explained.

“It’s a preferred avenue for people like this to get access to kids. They like the features of the application, disappearing messages and photos. It makes it more difficult to track and monitor what they’re doing. But we are paying attention. We’re going to hold Snapchat accountable for knowingly designing an app that is addictive. They want kids to be on it as much as possible, and they know about a lot of these dangers and they haven’t taken the necessary protocols to address them.”

The lawsuit alleges the platform violates HB 3, a Florida law passed in 2024 that requires parental consent for children aged 14 and 15 to use social media.

Uthmeier said another app is similarly problematic.

“We’ve been investigating Roblox, a gaming app where young people can get on in a social setting and play games with one another. Just two days ago, we arrested a guy in Marion County who was using this application to solicit sexual abuse material of young kids. We’re seeing a lot of this. So we’re going to be going after any company that’s out there endangering our kids. We put them on notice,” Uthmeier said.

Both of these apps have plenty of younger users. Roblox reported over 85 million daily active users in 2024, including an estimated 40% under age 13. Snapchat also has great appeal to young users, and permits people as young as 13 years of age to access the platform.