The Turkish government has effectively banned Roblox in the country, blocking access to all users citing concerns over “child exploitation.” The move comes five days after the same body, the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), blocked Instagram in the country, for which no reason has been given (although it is speculated that this relates to how the platform restricted posts about Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, following his assassination).
An official from the BTK outlined four reasons for the ban to the publication Turkey Today. First is “sexual exploitation concerns”, with the ban “primarily driven by reports of sexual content on Roblox that allegedly exploits children.” The second is “rampant reports of pedophilia”, with “the platform’s virtual parties accused of being a gathering spot for pedophiles”, which ties into the third problem: Robux. The BTK claims Robux is used “to incentivize children’s participation in the aforementioned problematic activities” as well as gambling.
Finally, the BTK says “the inability to effectively monitor and regulate inappropriate content on Roblox was a critical factor in the decision.” It says that Roblox Corporation’s “oversight mechanisms” are insufficient to address these issues, hence the ban.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Roblox “contains content that could lead to the abuse of children,” later adding on Twitter that “It is everyone’s duty to look out for, protect and support the best interests of our children, the guarantors of our future.”
Roblox Corporation has subsequently issued this statement to BBC Turkey: “We are aware that Roblox is currently unavailable in Turkey and we have contacted the relevant authorities to find out why and ensure we are back online as soon as possible.”
However the decision to simply ban Roblox, and the Instagram context, has infuriated some prominent Turkish figures. The Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, said that “after Instagram, it is incomprehensible that access has also been banned to Roblox, an online gaming platform with over 15 million users where users can develop games. Those who make these decisions are minds that are unaware of the new world, economy and technology.”
Roblox has faced huge criticism in recent years over its safety record, with several high-profile cases demonstrating how predators use the platform to target children. The horrifying case of a paedophile who abducted a 15 year-old girl after meeting her on Roblox has been the most recent example to make the news, but data reported by Bloomberg shows US police have arrested two dozen people since 2018 “accused of abducting or abusing victims” they’d met on Roblox.
Even so, an outright ban seems like no kind of solution at all: the Roblox Corporation repeatedly makes the point that these issues are not unique to Roblox, and toots its various safety initiatives now and over the years. The efficacy of those initiatives remains a source of debate, but that’s the kind of argument that won’t cut the mustard when you’re dealing with the autocratic regime of Recep Erdoğan, a conservative figure who has recently taken umbrage at western tech companies and what he sees as interference in Turkish political life. Only last week, Erdogan described Instagram as “a digital fascism that is disguised as freedom.” Or to put it another way: Why did Roblox Corporation get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.