Roblox has been banned in Russia, accused of distributing LGBTQ+ propaganda and terrorism-related extremist materials.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian watchdog for communications and censorship, described Roblox as “rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children”. It also flagged reports of sexual harassment of children.
“We respect the local laws and regulations in the countries where we operate,” a Roblox spokesperson told Reuters, “and believe Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone.”
The spokesperson added Roblox has “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.”
Roskomnadzor has a track record of restricting access to Western media and tech it deems to be in breach of Russian laws, from Duolingo to WhatsApp and Telegram. Last week, the watchdog threatened to block WhatsApp entirely.
Russia has of course long had anti-LGBT laws in place, in 2013 banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors.
Yet Roblox also has been criticised for its questionable safety measures, with a report last year claiming the platform had reported 13,316 instances of child exploitation. This year, Roblox has been steadily improving its safety standards, most recently requiring age checks for all those wishing to communicate through the platform.
Still, Russia isn’t the first country to ban Roblox. Türkiye also banned access to the platform last year to “ensure the protection of our 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,” said a Roblox spokesperson to Eurogamer at the time.
Most recently, Roblox boss David Baszucki appeared on the New York Times podcast Hard Fork to discuss safety measures, but he described the problem of predators on the platform as an “opportunity”, in what amounted to a disastrous interview.
