Access to Roblox has been blocked in Russia, with federal censorship and media oversight agency Roskomnadzor accusing the platform of distributing content “justifying terrorism” and spreading “LGBT propaganda”. According to Russian media reports, the state body said Roblox has become rife with content that can “negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children”.
Roskomnadzor also cited reports of sexual harassment of children and the sharing of intimate images in their accusations against Roblox. As reported by Reuters and Euronews, Roblox Corporation have issued a response to the ban via a spokesperson.
“We respect the local laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and believe Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone,” this statement reads. “We have a deep commitment to safety and we have a robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent harmful content on our platform.”
Roblox has faced plenty of criticism over how it protects young players in the last few years, with the US state of Louisiana bringing a lawsuit against Roblox Corporation over child safety concerns in August, and Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill accusing the game of being a “overrun with harmful content and child predators”.
The company behind the blocky game that’s actually many games have responded to this by pushing to limit interactions between minors and adults, introducing measures like mandatory selfie-based “facial age estimation technology”.
“We’re taking this step as part of our long-term vision as a platform for all ages,” Kaufman added. “We expect that our approach to communication safety will become best practice for other online platforms, whether lawmakers pass laws requiring age verification for all platforms in the future or not.” Though, checks of this nature haven’t always proven to be totally bulletproof when deployed in response to the likes of the UK’s Online Safety Act.
As far as their accusation of spreading “LGBT propaganda” is concerned, Roskomnadzor have a long history of going after games which they deem to violate the Russian government’s ultra-conservative views, which have seen draconian laws carve away the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the country. Just last month, Valve blocked Flick Solitaire from the Russian version of steam, after Roskomnadzor accused the card game of “promoting non-traditional sexualities”.
