Roblox gets banned indefinitely in Turkey over “child exploitation”
Roblox gets banned indefinitely in Turkey over “child exploitation”
The Turkish government has blocked access to Roblox for users across the nation over concerns regarding “child exploitation”.
most people are focusing on the free labour roblox is extracting from kids but from the article:
Further claims stated, according to Turkish media, that Roblox hosted virtual parties promoting pedophilia and that “robux,” the platform’s virtual currency, was being distributed by bot accounts to encourage children’s involvement in these activities, and excess presence of gambling sites and their predatory tactics.
so it looks like roblox was banned because of bad moderation in regards to gambling and sexual predators, both of which are massive issues of the platform. overall i think this is a good move which hopefully will push roblox to do better.
79It is the single most difficult thing as a parent to put my foot down about. Or it was at first.
My son LOVES watching the YouTubers playing the (horribly developed) games and enjoys making pretend games based on what he watches (some of it, sometimes we have to skip a video). He has a lot of friends at school that play it.
I will not let my son play it. Minecraft? Sure. Minecraft has a very different system, plenty of it crap, but it's much easier to supervise and much less exploitive.
But he does let me know that he feels left out when his friends play it and he can't. He doesn't have any siblings, so I understand how it's difficult to lack that connection to peers. He has other ways he gets to connect - mine craft, local playgyms, events for children, sports.
As a parent part of the empathy is feeling that sadness that comes from his disappointment in not being allowed to play it. But I think he has started to understand as he's gotten a little older, that adults making money off of what a kid makes isn't nice, or fair, or safe.
Turkey did well here. I don't think we'll ever have something similar in the states, but I hope regulation can come about eventually.
62Now do it everywhere else
51Good.
23Lol when you agree with a ban that turkey made thats a strange day. Maybe a ban is a bit too much but roblox is shitty and they should be pressured to change... and this applies to most large companies
22This is actually about the "condos", private ERP instances where children are exploited for robux.
22Nice.
16I've always thought roblox was dumb, but its kind of just a playground. Kids need a playground where their imaginations are free to grow and thy're in control. Somewhere they can interact and learn how to socialize safely with other children. When i was a kid, that was a walk to the park with friends to kick a ball around, riding a bicycle somewhere, exploring, and working out some dumb activities to do... Honest question: how comfortable are you with the idea of just letting your kids go to the park by themselves for hours on end?
For better or worse, it seems like sandbox creativity games like roblox are filling that void for some kids. Not saying roblox is an answer to a problem, just that kids seem to be utilizing it as a playground where they get to be creative and in control. Not sure why I'm bringing this up. It's just a thought that occurred to me recently.
16I regret to inform you that this news is: BASED
14W
10So this sounds like a parent problem.
5lol I can see why they would do that
4To Roblox: Being "child friendy" gives you controversies. You reap what you sowed.
1Lol nice
1This org needs a revival so that people can move away from roblox
1Can someone tell me how the kids are being forced to make video games. I have read several of these articles and can’t understand the logic. My kids played Roblox and created games on the platform they were never forced or coerced to make anything. Maybe it’s our messed up capitalistic society that expects everybody to monetize anything that’s fun.
-1