The Turkish government has banned Roblox over concerns on content that could lead to child abuse, after an investigation by prosecutors in the country.
Videos on Tiktok appear to show youngsters in Turkey ‘protesting’ against the ban of the popular 3D social network and gaming app, chanting 'Roblox geri gelshin' ('Roblox come back').
Roblox offers a free-to-use shared 3D world, with developers creating their own themed games and earning money, with users spending in the game’s currency, Robux. Roblox has 78 million active users, 42% of whom are under the age of 13, and has faced criticism over abusers targeting young people on the platform, including in the UK.
Data from audience research company GWI shows that 44% of UK children aged 8-15 have played Roblox.
Why has Turkey banned Roblox?
A Turkish court has imposed an access block on Roblox, after an investigation by prosecutors in the southern province of Adana over concerns about content that could lead to the abuse of children.
The move follows a brief ban of Instagram in the country. Turkish politicians have also discussed plans to ban TikTok.
Justice minister Yilmaz Tunc said on X, formerly Twitter: "Our country is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of our children. Using technology in a negative way is never acceptable."
A Roblox spokesman said, "We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate and share local lawmakers' commitment to children. We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Turkey as soon as possible.”
Why is Roblox controversial?
Roblox has faced repeated criticism over failures to protect young users from abuse, including attacks on 3D avatars within the platform and grooming.
The high-profile developer of a Sonic game on the platform was outed for messaging pre-teens on the platform in 2020, but continued to make money from his game after transferring ownership to another developer, Bloomberg reports – before being arrested by the FBI for grooming a 15-year-old girl.
A BBC report this year found that an eight-year-old boy had been asked for nude photos by people he met in Roblox.
In June 2018, a seven-year-old girl was 'violently gang-raped' by two avatars who grabbed the young girl’s avatar and forced it to engage in simulated sex acts.
While Roblox insist that an 'overwhelmingly positive experience' is had by millions of its users every day, Bloomberg reported last month that Roblox itself reported 13,316 instances of child exploitation to US authorities last year. Police in the US have since arrested more than two dozen people for abducting and abusing victims met on Roblox.
In Roblox, adults create 'condo' rooms for sex games, with videos of avatars having sex shared on p*rn sites. Roblox bans 'condo' games, and cracks down on them when they appear.
What safety features does Roblox have in the UK?
In the UK, Roblox has been required to remove gambling-style functions such as paid-for random items – – known as ‘loot boxes’ – for under-18 users via an update this year.
The move means that apps which rely on ‘loot boxes’ to earn money, which includes many popular Roblox apps, can no longer admit young users in the UK.
An outright ban on Roblox is not something that has been discussed in the UK.
A British parent told Yahoo News that he feels that Turkey’s ban on the game should be a ‘wake-up call’ to the developers.
Simon Pardo, director of technology specialists Computer Care, said: “Roblox has become hugely popular among a certain generation of kids – especially those aged under 13 – and it’s important that parents keep an eye on what their darlings are up to.
“While Roblox does have some creative and educational elements, there is a darker side to the platform. The issues of inappropriate content, grooming and cyberbullying raised by Turkey are serious – and very real – concerns.
"I know through my own personal experience where my eight-year-old daughter was groomed on Roblox that it's a place where paedophiles try to groom children. Roblox has wrongly marketed itself as a safe space for children, and action needs to be taken."
Pardo said that he reported the issue of his daughter being groomed to the police, adding: "We got out of my daughter that someone was trying to be her boyfriend on Roblox, and my son managed to grab his IP address.
"The police wouldn’t do anything, as they said that no offence had been committed. Roblox banned his account, but there’s nothing to stop him setting up a new account and starting again. It’s disgusting that they wouldn’t do anything more about it.”
“While the user-generated content model makes moderation challenging, Roblox’s efforts to address the issues have been severely lacking.”
A Roblox spokesperson said, “Roblox's status in Turkey is completely unrelated to the platform's availability in the UK.”
What does Roblox say?
Yahoo News reached out to Roblox for comment on the recent ban, and was directed to a company blog post regarding the Turkey ban.
Roblox’s spokesperson wrote: “We are mindful that millions of people use our platform in Turkey every day, including a vibrant community of developers whose businesses are built on Roblox.
“We’re committed to doing everything we can to keep our community safe, and we share global policymakers’ commitment to protecting children.
“We’ve spent almost 20 years making Roblox one of the safest online platforms for our users, particularly the youngest, and ensuring the safety of our users is at the core of everything we do.
"Every day, tens of millions of people of all ages have a safe and positive experience on Roblox, abiding by our Community Standards - policies that cover everything from profanity to advertising. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to keep our platform safe. And every team at Roblox helps ensure products are designed with safety in mind.”
How can you keep your children safe when gaming online?
Parents need to be involved and aware of what their children are doing online, advises Rachel Huggins, co-CEO of Internet Matters.
Huggins says that the upcoming Online Safety Act will hopefully make online services more accountable in the UK, and lead to better experiences for families.
"Parents and carers can also take steps to help safeguard their children online," she adds. "Roblox, along with other gaming platforms, social media platforms, device manufacturers, and broadband providers offer parental control features that can be activated on children's accounts.
Step-by-step instructions on how to implement these controls are available on the Internet Matters website.
