Young Russians Voice Outrage Over Roblox Ban in a Wave of Complaints to the Kremlin

Children across Russia have inundated the Kremlin with grievances regarding the government’s decision to ban the Roblox gaming platform, according to a statement from President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson on Tuesday.

On December 3, the Russian media regulatory body Roskomnadzor announced that it had blocked access to the U.S.-based Roblox, alleging that the platform disseminates extremist content and endorses “LGBT propaganda.”

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, confirmed that the Kremlin had received a “large number” of letters from children on this issue in anticipation of the year-end presidential press conference and televised Q&A session on December 19.

His comments came after Yekaterina Mizulina, a censorship supporter aligned with the Kremlin, indicated that she had received 63,000 messages from kids aged 8 to 16, with half of them expressing a desire to leave Russia following the Roblox ban.

“They may not explicitly mention leaving [Russia], but they certainly discuss their feelings about this game,” Peskov told the press.

In its announcement, Roskomnadzor claimed that children using Roblox were “subjected to sexual harassment, manipulated into sharing intimate photos, and coerced into engaging in depraved acts and violence.”

The agency warned that the game contained “inappropriate content that could have a detrimental effect on the spiritual and moral development of children.”

Conversely, the Roblox Corporation, which is based in California, asserts that it moderates all content using both human oversight and artificial intelligence tools to eliminate “exploitative content.”

With approximately 100 million users globally per day, about 40% of Roblox’s user base for 2024 comprises children under the age of 13, according to the company.

Roblox was the most downloaded mobile game in Russia throughout 2023.

Reporting by AFP contributed to this story.