Controversial YouTuber Benjamin “Ruben Sim” Simon has been banned from gaming platform Roblox after allegedly leading an in-game “cybermob” to harass its predominantly younger player base with racist and homophobic slurs, and some sexual harassment to boot. According to the Oakland, CA court that issued the years-long decree, Simon presented a terror threat against the gaming company and its community.
Read More: Roblox Sues YouTuber For $US1.6 ($2) Million Over Terrorizing Kids Platform
Simon was originally sued by the Roblox Corporation back in November 2021 for $US160,000 ($222,112) in damages, an amount that was eventually decreased to $US150,000 ($208,230) according to court documents obtained by Polygon. Simon posted a video on YouTube last week in response to the news and argued against the characterization in the allegations in court.
Since Roblox is free to join and download, it’s fairly easy to make a new account and get around a ban–unless the game happens to IP ban you. According to Polygon, the corporation accused Simon of circumventing his ban for continued access to the game, presumably through hacking and getting other players to create accounts for him.
In tandem with his court-ordered ban and fine, Simon has agreed to not gain access to the platform, not make false statements about the game and its employees, or go near its offices, or post and republish “false threats of terrorist activity relating to Roblox,” according to Polygon.
The last point came following a message Simon allegedly made on Twitter alluding to a possible terrorist attack at the Roblox Developers Conference in San Francisco in October last year. According to the lawsuit, Simon’s tweet caused the event to be delayed and “forced into a temporary lockdown while local police and private security conducted a search to secure the facility.” Simon has also been ordered to remove any of his YouTube videos that violate the court order.
Kotaku reached out to Simon and the Roblox Corporation for comment but didn’t receive a response by time of publication.
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