Roblox bans and sues YouTuber for $1,6 million over terrorist threat

YouTuber Benjamin Robert Simon, known as Ruben Sim, is being sued by Roblox Corporation for making terrorist threats and apologies for Nazism on and off the gaming platform. In the lawsuit filed in the California Court, in the US, the company demands that the man pay a compensation of US$ 1,6 million (about R$ 8,9 million) and stop harassing Roblox users.

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Simon's troubled relationship with Roblox Corporation goes back a long way. According to the company's lawyers, the youtuber received his first ban years ago for harassing players with racist and homophobic insults, sexual violence and apology for Nazism. Even suspended, Simon was able to return to the platform using other profiles.

Simon profited from terrorist threats

In addition to violating Roblox's terms of use, Simon posted and profited from terrorist threat content on his YouTube channel, with over 700 subscribers. Lawyers for Roblox Corporation said, for example, that Simon had masterminded the attack that temporarily disrupted a presentation at the Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) in San Francisco in October.

During the event, Simon posted several times on his Twitter that the San Francisco police would be “looking for an Islamic State extremist” in DRC 2021. Then, supporters of the youtuber began posting other fake threats, including messages warning people not to. go to the conference.

Because of these tweets, San Francisco officials had to stop the event and evacuate the venue to look for potential threats. This cost Roblox Corporation about $50, plus all the work to deal with the non-material damages to the company.

In the lawsuit, the company also claimed that the youtuber was talking to supporters about the shooting at YouTube headquarters – which happened in April 2018 – and saying things like “wait until someone does this on Roblox”. He still practiced targeted harassment against Roblox Corporation users and employees in the game and on social media.

So far, neither Roblox Corporation nor Simon has publicly commented on the lawsuit.