New Investigation Uncovers Monetized Extremist Material On Roblox

[Celerity]

As Roblox continues to face public criticism for its poor moderation practices and child safety, the company quietly profits from extremist content hosted on the platform

https://globalextremism.org/post/new-investigation-uncovers-monetized-extremist-material-on-roblox/



The video game platform Roblox, which boasts over 111 million daily active users, is currently under fire for its poor moderation practices. On August 14, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced a lawsuit against the company for lacking proper safety protocols to protect children from sexual content and exploitation. She called for the entire platform to be shut down, saying “Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue, and profits over child safety.” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), also launched a petition calling for Roblox to “do more to protect children, provide more support to parents, and strengthen law enforcement protocols that help bring predators to justice.”

The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), in an ongoing investigation into extremism in gaming, particularly on Roblox, has found white supremacist virtual clothing being monetized on the platform. These include direct references to transnational neo-Nazi networks such as the Active Club Movement, mass deportation operations conducted by ICE in the United States, and white nationalist political parties abroad such as the National Party in Ireland. In order to purchase these items, users must use “Robux,” which is the platform’s in-game currency acquired by spending real-world money. At the time of publishing, Roblox charges a minimum of $4.99 USD for Robux, with a maximum of $199.99 USD. Most disturbingly, everything is accessible to children even under the age of 13.



Among Roblox’s 111 million daily active users is a large portion of children. 36 percent of its playerbase is under 13 years old and 50 percent is under 16 years old. Criticism directed at Roblox primarily targets the platform’s User-Generated Content (UGC), called “experiences,” which are digital “locations” created and published by Roblox users for either public or private use. The experiences can range from mimicking real-world environments to completely fictitious scenarios. While parents have been limiting screen time and using parental controls on their children’s Roblox accounts, it’s still remarkably easy to find videos on YouTube encouraging children to bypass Roblox’s age verification system. The system is meant to prevent young children from accessing features like voice chat and age-restricted gameplay. While Roblox has Community Standards dedicated to moderating “child exploitation,” “suicide, self injury, and harmful behavior,” “terrorism and violent extremism,” and “discrimination, slurs, and hate speech,” it’s well-documented that content on their platform involving all of these activities is not only rampant, but also monetized by Roblox.

Extremists exploit social media and gaming spaces, since they are often poorly moderated and open to monetization (Read GPAHE’s reporting on neo-Nazis monetizing hate on Instagram here). Roblox continues to be a hotspot for monetized white nationalist and racist content, most accessible to children under the age of 13. Cosmetics, which are typically virtual clothing items obtained by spending “Robux,” Roblox’s in-game currency which is purchased with real money, are rife with extremist imagery. Items advertising the neo-Nazi Active Club movement are readily available. For example, one cosmetic titled “Active” features the Celtic Cross, a symbol often used by Active Clubs, and has tags such as “W2R,” referencing the “Will2Rise” clothing brand, also referenced in the seller’s name (WillToBlox), associated with Active Clubs, and “3.0,” referring to White Nationalism 3.0, a framework created by the Active Club founder Robert Rundo that the movement follows in their “activism.” Clothing titled “The Roblox Nationalists Flag,” featuring a symbol resembling the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), is also available. When attempting to purchase any cosmetics from a Roblox account set as someone younger than 13 years old, the user is prompted to purchase Robux in order to obtain clothing with extremist imagery, instead of flagging the age of the user.





snip