The Turkish government has effectively blocked Roblox in its country, blocking all users due to concerns about "child exploitation." The move comes just five days after the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority, or BTK, blocked Instagram in Turkey, with no explanation given. However, it is speculated to be related to how Instagram restricted posts about Ismail Haniyeh the leader of Hamas following his assassination.
Turkey Today reported that an official from the BTK gave four reasons for the decision. The first is "sexual exploitation", and the ban was "primarily driven" by reports of sexual content in Roblox that exploited children. The second problem is "rampant reports" of pedophilia, with "the platform’s virtual parties accused of serving as a gathering place for pedophiles". This leads to the third issue: Robux. The BTK claims Robux are used to "incentivize" children to participate in gambling and the problematic activities mentioned above.
The BTK concludes that "the inability of Roblox Corporation to effectively monitor and control inappropriate content was a critical decision factor." It claims that Roblox Corporation’s "oversight mechanism" is insufficient to address the issues, thus the ban.
Turkey's Justice minister Yilmaz Tunc stated that Roblox "contains a content that could lead abuse of children." Later, he added on Twitter that it is everyone's responsibility to look out for and protect the best interests of children, who are the guarantors to our future.
Roblox Corporation issued the following statement to BBC Turkey. "We are aware of Roblox being unavailable in Turkey. We have contacted relevant authorities to determine why and to ensure that we are back online as quickly as possible."
Nevertheless, the decision to ban Roblox and the Instagram context has angered some prominent Turkish figures. Ekrem Imanoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul said that it was "incomprehensible" that Roblox, a gaming platform that has over 15 million users and allows users to create games, had also been banned after Instagram. These decisions are made by people who are ignorant of the new economy, technology and world.
Roblox has been heavily criticized in recent years for its safety record. Several high-profile cases have shown how predators target children using the platform. The most recent case was that of a paedophile abducting a 15-year-old girl he met on Roblox. However, data reported by Bloomberg indicates that US police have arrested 20 people since 2018 who were "accused of abducting and abusing victims" whom they had met on Roblox.
The effectiveness of these initiatives is still a matter of debate, but that argument won't cut it when you're dealing with the autocratic regime Recep Erdogan, a conservative figure who has recently taken offense at western tech companies and what he sees as interference in Turkish political life. It's still up for debate whether these initiatives are effective, but this argument won't fly when dealing with the autocratic government of Recep Erdoan, a conservative figure that has recently taken offense at western tech companies, and what he views as interference in Turkish politics. Erdogan called Instagram "digital fascism disguised as freedom" only last week. Or, to put it in another way: why did Roblox Corporation receive the works? It's not the Turks' business.
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