Ruben Sim

Benjamin Robert "Ben" Simon , better known by his online alias Ruben Sim, is a former Roblox Forum troll and YouTuber. Simon holds something of an everlasting grudge against Roblox ever since they banned his account in 2014. He was sued by the company in 2021 and ultimately ordered by a court not to visit the website or go near Roblox's offices (though he seems to have continued making videos about them). Simon was perhaps best known for exposing predators on the Roblox platform, though he's since faced criticism for conflating being a member of certain communities (most notably furries) with predatory behavior. By his own retelling in a 2023 Kiwi Farms post, these comments against furries and LGBT people have been part of an effort to purge his fanbase of anyone he perceives as "sexual degenerates and hyper-sensitive social justice warriors" since about 2020–2021.
==Roblox lawsuit==
On 23 November 2021, Roblox filed a $1.65 million lawsuit against Simon for "posting false and misleading terrorist threats", breach of user contract, and "cyber-bullying and harassing Roblox employees and executives".Adi Robertson (November 24, 2021). Roblox sues YouTuber for temporarily shutting down conference with fake terrorist threat. The Verge. In the lawsuit, Roblox claimed they had banned his account for allegedly: "engaging in sexual conversation with users, discussing sex acts, engaging in sexual harassment, singling out users and groups for ridicule or abuse, attempting to upload a nude image of himself with only a lampshade covering his genitals, using racial and homophobic slurs, creating and using inappropriate accounts with sexual names, attempting to upload a sex game, attempting to upload images of Adolf Hitler, ... using prolific profanity; and cyber-bullying and harassing Roblox employees and executives, including through libelous personal accusations." They alleged that he repeatedly evaded bans by creating new accounts.Roblox v. Simon (11/23/21) Document Cloud.
The lawsuit concluded on 16 January 2022; Simon was court-ordered to pay $150,000 in damages and stay away from Roblox's website and real-life offices.Court orders persistent 'Roblox' troll to stay off the platform: Other penalties include paying $150,000 in damages. by Igor Bonifacic (January 21, 2022 2:10 PM) engadget. Simon created a GoFundMe to cover his legal costs which raised a total of $7,981.https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-cover-ruben-sims-legal-costs
==Moderation For Dummies==
The bizarre troublemaking is kind of a shame, because he does get it right sometimes and all the controversy might have a "poisoning the well" effect on that, if anything. Simon has pushed for Roblox to better moderate their platform (which they manage through a combination of AI and human moderation), often himself bringing attention to genuinely inappropriate content and behavior for them to respond to. For this he actually appeared in a Bloomberg Businessweek feature titled "Roblox's Pedophile Problem".Olivia Carville and Cecilia D'Anastasio (July 22, 2024). "Roblox's Pedophile Problem". Bloomberg Businessweek.Rich Stanton (August 7, 2024). "A pedophile used Roblox to groom, abduct and sexually assault a 15-year-old girl, a full 18 months after the community had outed him as a predator". PC Gamer. Per that article:
For some reason Businessweek decided to let us know Simon's gaming room smelled like marijuana. (This perhaps seemed relevant as the Wall Street prefers cocaine.Carrie Hojnicki (July 13, 2012). "Cracked Tales Of Cocaine On Wall Street". Business Insider.)
==Personal beliefs==
=== LGBT community ===
Simon has liked tweets from the all-around bigot Matt Walsh on the subject of transphobia,Tweets liked by Ruben Sim. Twitter, via archive.today. and also follows several notable anti-LGBT personalities, including the alt-right comic artist Hans Kristian Graebener (a.k.a. StoneToss),People followed by ruben sim. Twitter, via archive.today. former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and anti-trans activist Katie Herzog.(October 13, 2023). "People followed by Ruben Sim". Twitter, via Ghost Archive. (Original link). There was some ambiguity since he simultaneously followed pro-trans and anti-trans accounts.(March 28, 2023). "People followed by Ruben Sim". Twitter, via archive.is.(March 14, 2023). okay so, hes definitely not following these people because he agrees with them. He's probably following them because he wants to see what they tweet / Point and case, hes following @TransgenderJoy". Twitter, via archive.is.
=== Furry fandom ===
Simon venomously hates the furry fandom, so much so that they are virtually all he ever talks about. In December 2022, he changed his Twitter bio to include the line "f*rries/coomers blocked on sight".
During that time, Simon posted a bunch of anti-furry tweets, including one stating that if he were president, he would establish FEMA camps to round up furries and have them "ground up into dog food". He also created a poll receiving a majority of support from his fanbase where he asked if hospitals should deny furries access to medical care, with the implication that anyone disagreeing must support zoophiles"should hospitals deny furries access to medical care?" - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is. In another poll, he asked whether his followers would rather be sued for $1.6 million or be a furry, in reference to his 2021 Roblox lawsuit."would you rather" - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is
Even with the predictable backlash from the furry fandom, it got to the point that even some of his own fans would criticize Simon for his actions as he had created a hoax that he had successfully petitioned the Arizonan legislature to make it illegal to be a furry."Next week I will be appearing before my state's legislature to argue in favor of criminalizing being a furry." -@realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is"starting in April, publicly declaring yourself a furry in Arizona will be classified as a misdemeanor. thank you to everyone who supported me in making this happen" -@realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is
In multiple cases, Simon directly linked to tweets made by people he didn't like@FallingTowers01 on Twitter"Do not look at this guy's followed accounts" - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.isImage - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is (often those who are openly supportive of furries), knowing full-well that his personal army fans would go over to their profile and harass them,"quote tweet-to-private account speedrun any%, go get it! fetch!" - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via web.archive.org oftentimes to such an extent that anyone affected leaves the site entirely. He also allegedly doxxed people in the fandom and sent an abusive email attaching an animal abuse video in response to someone writing a complaint to him via email about his actions towards the developer of Roblox game Thunder Scientific Corporation."I was using a burner email in order to contact him. (Also the video he sent alongside his response is of animal abuse, it isn't shown, but is directly implied.)" - @IamtheRizzard on Twitter Simon later publicly posted animal abuse videos on his Twitter profile that matched his critics' furry avatars."Of course Ruben sim has animal abuse downloaded can't say that I'm shocked" - @ImagesHumanity on Twitter
Simon also showed support for an Oklahoma bill proposed by which aims to ban furries from attending public schools,"Oklahoma is making the anti-furry bill a real thing. If you're an Oklahoma resident, it is your civic duty to protect the children of your state by contacting your representative and letting them know you support this bill." - Ruben Sim on YouTube - via archive.is urging his followers in Oklahoma to back the bill as it would "protect the children", despite students being specifically named and targeted by the bill under proposal.Bill Text: OK HB3084 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced | LegiScan Legiscan
Simon later published a video on his YouTube channelEvery Type of Roblox Player - Ruben Sim on YouTube where he ranked his most and least favored Roblox communities, which received significant criticism from the community because of his assertion that 95% of furries had zoophilic tendencies and also due to the negative association drawn from his inclusion of furries that were not confirmed zoophiles as background imagery during that segment - the most notable of those being: 
* Bluefolf, a transgender furry who criticized Simon for his refusal to deal with (or even halfheartedly disapprove of) the extensive online harassment she received from his fanbase (including death threats and illegitimate DMCA takedowns against her Twitter profile)"This shit is getting out of controlThey’re now trying to get my account taken down by wrongfully copyright striking MY OWN CHARACTER" - @bluefolf on Twitter"I still don’t have a pfp right now because of trolls falsely copyright claiming it 🙄Saw a lot of people asking about it and that’s why ^^" - @bluefolf on Twitter following the inclusion of her likeness alongside the claim that 95% of furries were zoophiles and her subsequent posts about the situation."Hundreds of Ruben Sim fans have sent me death threats, gore, doxxed my address, even sent phone calls to my family members since I made posts on himHe’s done nothing to stop it, and if anything he’s encouraging it" - @bluefolf on Twitter
* Lemonade Coyote, a furry EMT who had died from injuries following a collision with a black Honda on February 16, 2013,Lemonade Coyote - WikiFur was displayed in the original upload of the video. Simon later re-uploaded the video with Lemonade Coyote's photo blurred out after the backlash. However, all other images of furries that have not been confirmed to be zoophiles still remain unblurred.
Following the hack of the Fur Affinity domain and its associated Twitter account on August 2024, Simon defended the attacker, accusing the site of facilitating child sexual exploitation."I'm honored to be accused of being behind the Furaffinity hack. Furaffinity has been a major source of child sexual exploitation, & frequently employed child predators. These accusations from the furry community are a testament to my work against this plague on society." - Ruben Sim on Twitter - via archive.is
After rumors started to spread that he was allegedly involved in the attack, Simon followed that the sudden influx of furries making negative statements about him were confirmation that his prior accusations directed towards the community were correct.
===Kiwi Farms===
In December 2023, he announced that he had joined Kiwi Farms,Ruben Sim (December 11, 2023). "i now have an account on kiwifarms". Twitter, via archive.today. seemingly to share his efforts to improve the Roblox moderation system. However, he also threw in an ask-me-anything, which led to a couple sort-of political asides. In one, he stated: "Kiwifarms has been an invaluable resource in uncovering and combating child molestation, grooming, animal abuse, sex pests, domestic violence, parental neglect, and political hysteria." Left out of his post was any direct description of the site's facilitation of doxing and harassment,Alia E. Dastagir (July 23, 2021). "'The internet is not a game. ... This stuff really hurts.' Respected developer who was bullied online dies by suicide.". USA Today.(September 4, 2022). "Citing imminent danger Cloudflare drops hate site Kiwi Farms". The Associated Press. Margaret Pless (July 19, 2016). "Kiwi Farms, the Web’s Biggest Community of Stalkers". Intelligencer.Ali Breland (March–April 2023). "The Website That Wants You to Kill Yourself—and Won’t Die". Mother Jones. a characterization which Sim appears to dismiss as merely "a disinfo campaign". Later in the same post, he said: "I've spent the last 2-3 years culling my fanbase of sexual degenerates and hyper-sensitive social justice warriors. All of the anti-furry posting I've been doing is designed to keep these types of people from working their way into my support base."Ruben Sim (December 11, 2023). Post #1,218 on "Roblox Community General Thread", Kiwi Farms (via GhostArchive).
===Artificial intelligence===
Simon is a strong supporter of the use of artificial intelligence to generate images, considering it to be just another art form.there are people on this app who will tell you with a straight face that this isn't art because it was made with AI - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.iscorrect but i consciously used my imagination to use AI to make the art. i am the artist and the AI is the tool - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is He has criticized artists for taking a stance against AI image generators, viewing such stances as backwards and "a great way to be left behind" in "a highly competitive industry".real talk: artists aren't being replaced by AI. they're being replaced by other artists who are learning to use AI. refusing to adapt to new technology in a highly competitive industry is a great way to be left behind - @realRubenSim on Twitter - via archive.is
== Other attention grabs ==
=== Fake car crash ===
In March 2023, Simon posted an image of a wrecked car on his Twitter account, claiming he had lost traction and slid into a curb.Are you fucking happy? You all got what you were wishing for. I lost traction and slid into a curb. I hope you're happy. You people are evil. The image was actually from a 2 year old Reddit post and was lifted with no alterations.2013 Nissan Altima Coupe/ Hey guys, so I clearly crashed my car and trying to find other cars for salvage that are destroyed from the back so I can basically just move the new cars parts into my own. Any idea what websites there are to find a car similar to mine but for salvage? Thank you.
===BDSM porn===
Simon, when he was 16, created and published BDSMRuben Sim (January 19, 2024). "When I was in the 10th grade a girl from the Roblox forums was drawing and sharing porn of her Roblox avatar, so to troll her I made a really shitty MS Paint drawing of her avatar in a BDSM scenario." Twitter, via archive.today. porn of an (at the time) 13-year-old's nude Roblox avatar,Ruben Sim (September 1, 2013). "@appie1777 @spicycoldkitty done here u go lel". Twitter, via the Wayback Machine.(December 29, 2022). "He made it because a artist wouldn't give him free art - And kept harassing her with it until 2016". Twitter. then repeatedly advertised it on the official Roblox Forum.(September 1, 2013). "i did a drawing of spicycoldkitty and appie". Roblox Forum Archive.(September 16, 2013). "Spicycoldkitty is overrated". Roblox Forum Archive. He repeatedly sent mentions to her in the replies to the porn post for up to 2–3 years afterward. In 2014, he uploaded a now-unavailable video to "expose" her "trying to create a following and deceiving people".(August 24, 2014). "The next big Spicycoldkitty thread: Stop it edition". Roblox Forum Archive.(August 29, 2014). "Who should I do a video on next?". Roblox Forum Archive.(August 24, 2014). Post 144406489. Roblox Forum Archive. At the time, he compared the situation to Gamergate (which doesn't at all help his case); he stated: "If you let these kinds of people slip by then everyone will think they can do it. Same reason why Zoe Quinn is getting all the attention from the chans."(August 24, 2014). Post 144404068. Roblox Forum Archive. This particular "dispute" started because she wouldn't draw his Roblox avatar for free.
And then he wondered why Roblox would rather kick him out than continue being associated with this kind of shit.
==Fanbase==
The most diehard elements of Ruben Sim's fanbase functions as a glorified hate mob, as they are known to attack nearly anyone who disagrees with their glorious leader, going as far as to dox sending spam phone calls and gore to targets.Ghost Archive. (Original link).
===Damian Haglund===
Damian Haglund was a 14-year-old obsessed with the Columbine school massacre. Haglund attempted a school shooting on Mount Horeb Middle School on May 1st, 2024 and died in his attempt.Mary Spicuzza and Jessica Van Egeren (May 3, 2024). "Mount Horeb student shot, killed by police for bringing rifle to school has been identified". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Lucas Robinson (May 4, 2024). "Mount Horeb shooter wrote about 'Columbine addiction,' feeling out of place". Wisconsin State Journal. On his Twitter account, he retweeted and liked posts by Ruben Sim, and replied to a couple of his tweets as well.See here for verification that @FritzcheLetvan was Damian Haglund.Posts with replies by @FritzcheLetvan, via Ghost Archive. (Original link). Posts without replies, via Ghost Archive. (Original link).
==See also==
*List of internet kooks
*Furry fandom
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Alt-lite
Category:Gamergate
Category:Homophobes
Category:Internet kooks
Category:Living people
Category:Transphobes
Category:Trolls
Category:Video games
Category:YouTube