Does banning Roblox prevent child abuse?

Roblox, one of the world's largest gaming platforms, has been banned in Turkiye.

The 6th Peace Court of Adana announced that access to Roblox was blocked under the law regulating online broadcasts and preventing crimes.

This law includes provisions for the "protection of the right to life, personal and property safety, national security, and public order."

The ruling also stated that the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the ban on Roblox due to "content that could lead to the exploitation of children."

Although it is unclear which specific incident led to the ban, the prevention of child abuse in the digital world is a subject of global concern.

Previously, news organizations such as BBC and Bloomberg had reported cases of children in the UK and the US being sexually exploited through the Roblox platform.

But does banning the platform prevent child exploitation cases?

According to experts, the answer is no.

Canan Güllü, President of the Turkish Federation of Women’s Associations, who collaborates with UNICEF on the "Connecting the Dots" project to protect children from digital dangers, stated, "No country has been able to eliminate a potential crime in a system simply by banning the system itself."

"Let’s think about abuse outside the digital world. Did we shut down religious courses because children were abused there? No, we directed the issue to the judiciary. The legal process must be ensured," Güllü emphasized, adding that the state should develop cyber laws and take measures to prevent potential online dangers.

Güllü pointed out that the Ministry of Interior established an effective monitoring system to prevent pedophilia in the early years of the internet, saying, "How long can you keep banning? You have to produce solutions and control the production process."

Roblox’s Statement: "We Have Been Working to Ensure Safety for 20 Years"

In a statement to BBC Turkish, Roblox emphasized that they have spent "the last 20 years making Roblox the safest online platform."

The company spokesperson highlighted that they respect the laws and regulations of the countries they operate in and said, "We look forward to working with authorities to bring Roblox back online in Turkiye as soon as possible."

The spokesperson also noted that "millions of people have a safe and positive experience on Roblox every day, and hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually to ensure safety."

Why Is Roblox at the Center of Criticism?

As of 2024, Roblox has 32 million daily active users under the age of 13.

This makes Roblox the largest entertainment space for children worldwide.

Roblox also has 46 million daily active users over the age of 13.

Roblox is not just a platform for playing games; it’s also a platform for developing games.

Thanks to its simplified coding language, it is a place where children can easily design games.

The popularity of some games created by children on the platform has led to accusations of child labor against the company.

Roblox is also one of the largest social media platforms for children.

According to Bloomberg data, 50,000 messages are sent on the platform every second.

One of the biggest criticisms against Roblox is its alleged failure to effectively regulate and review these messages.

The company has been criticized for not adequately monitoring the content that reaches children's inboxes.

In a BBC report published this year, an 8-year-old child shared that people they met on Roblox asked for nude photos.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, at least 20 people in the US have been arrested since 2018 on charges of harassing or kidnapping individuals they met on Roblox.

Workshops for Families

In the UK, authorities and police organize workshops for families and educators to counter such dangers.

In one workshop attended by the BBC, children were asked questions about online risks, the dangers were explained, and strategies for overcoming them were shared, all while their families were present.

Megan Haldane, a cyber protection officer who organized the workshop, emphasized that no platform is completely safe and that risks never entirely disappear:

"The moment we learn how to control and regulate one platform, offenders move on to another and figure out how to use it."

Supervision Instead of Banning

In Turkiye, the Ministry of Family and Social Services, in its digital safety guide for families, emphasizes that rather than banning children from playing computer games, measures should be taken to ensure productive use of the computer.

Canan Güllü, President of the Turkish Federation of Women’s Associations, also suggests that families establish control mechanisms over the games their children play by monitoring them.

Additionally, Güllü mentioned that, under the "Digital Child Abuse-Connecting the Dots" project, they are working on a technology that will enable age and identity verification through artificial intelligence.

According to Güllü, it is crucial for school guidance counselors to be involved in the process.

Child and adolescent psychiatry specialist Serdar Alpaslan noted that it is difficult to prevent children from spending time online and stressed that families should control their children’s activities.

Alpaslan underlined that "Parents need to communicate with their children and gather information about what they are playing," emphasizing that this is the responsibility of the parents.

Banned After Instagram

The timing of Roblox's ban shortly after Instagram's prohibition has also sparked reactions.

Many human rights experts and activists have described the ban on Roblox as another blow to democracy and freedom of expression.

Turkiye had previously banned Twitch, another of the world’s largest gaming platforms, for a time.

Just two weeks ago, Wattpad, a platform that connects writers and readers, was also banned.

Professor Dr. Yaman Akdeniz from Bilgi University Faculty of Law emphasized that, as of the end of March 2024, over 1 million websites in Turkiye are inaccessible.

"In my opinion, the state should never interfere with these platforms, which should be under the control of families and parents," said Akdeniz, adding that the exact reason for the bans on platforms like Wattpad or Roblox is unclear.

According to Akdeniz, Turkiye has failed in terms of censorship:

"The solution is never to ban, block, or censor everything. Is this what we are going to teach our children? Moreover, do problems disappear by banning them?"