- Category
- Latest news
In Russia, a Youth Backlash Is Forcing Change—But Not the Kind You’d Expect
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Roskomnadzor (RKN) announced that the management of the American gaming platform Roblox expressed its willingness to cooperate for its unblocking in Russia, according to The Moscow Times on December 17.
According to the regulator, the company agreed to take measures “necessary to remove destructive and dangerous information” and “suspend criminal actions and communications of users.”
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
“The platform acknowledges that it has not adequately ensured content moderation in games or chat security... The management of Roblox has now expressed its readiness to gradually bring its operations in Russia into compliance with Russian legislation,” said RKN.
As reported by The Moscow Times, Roskomnadzor blocked Roblox on December 3 for spreading extremist materials and “LGBT propaganda.” The regulator also claimed that children on the platform were “subjected to sexual harassment” by pedophiles.
Following the ban on Roblox, Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the "League of Safe Internet," said that she had received 63,000 letters from children aged 8 to 16, half of whom expressed a desire to leave Russia.
After the nationwide ban of the American gaming platform Roblox in Russia, officials have called for the rapid development of a domestic version of the game. Roskomnadzor, cited that Roblox “justified extremist and terrorist activities” as the primary reason for the ban, according to Russian state media TASS on December 10.
The ban sparked an outpouring of complaints from Russian children, with Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, confirming the widespread backlash. In response, Vladislav Grib, deputy secretary of Russia’s Civic Chamber, stressed the urgency of creating a Russian equivalent of Roblox.
“This is important for our children. We must respect their opinions and their needs,” Grib stated, calling for the quick development of a domestic alternative.
He further argued that the state should allocate significant resources to build Russian versions of popular foreign digital services, rather than simply blocking them.
“Let’s always give an alternative when disabling something and develop a Russian platform,” Grib added.
Earlier, it was reported that Russian lawmakers are now considering a ban on Call of Duty, claiming that the globally popular shooter franchise depicts the Russian military as antagonists and compels players to “shoot Russian soldiers.”
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")