most people are focusing on the free labour roblox is extracting from kids but from the article:
Further claims stated, according to Turkish media, that Roblox hosted virtual parties promoting pedophilia and that “robux,” the platform’s virtual currency, was being distributed by bot accounts to encourage children’s involvement in these activities, and excess presence of gambling sites and their predatory tactics.
so it looks like roblox was banned because of bad moderation in regards to gambling and sexual predators, both of which are massive issues of the platform. overall i think this is a good move which hopefully will push roblox to do better.
It is the single most difficult thing as a parent to put my foot down about. Or it was at first.
My son LOVES watching the YouTubers playing the (horribly developed) games and enjoys making pretend games based on what he watches (some of it, sometimes we have to skip a video). He has a lot of friends at school that play it.
I will not let my son play it. Minecraft? Sure. Minecraft has a very different system, plenty of it crap, but it's much easier to supervise and much less exploitive.
But he does let me know that he feels left out when his friends play it and he can't. He doesn't have any siblings, so I understand how it's difficult to lack that connection to peers. He has other ways he gets to connect - mine craft, local playgyms, events for children, sports.
As a parent part of the empathy is feeling that sadness that comes from his disappointment in not being allowed to play it. But I think he has started to understand as he's gotten a little older, that adults making money off of what a kid makes isn't nice, or fair, or safe.
Turkey did well here. I don't think we'll ever have something similar in the states, but I hope regulation can come about eventually.
I straight up told my kid that he will not be playing that game. So you're not alone out there and you're doing well by taking an interest in your child's activity and monitoring them appropriately. I wish more parents would do the same.
If he likes the idea of making games, just find a playlist of Godot or Unreal 5 game building on youtube. Most of that stuff can be done low-code, and would be perfect for someone who wants to click around and make something. It can be frustrating at first… but if you find something that actually works, I bet it’d click
There's also a block coding plugin for Godot now too!
https://github.com/endlessm/godot-block-coding
Perfect tool to get kids into game creation.
Now do it everywhere else
Roblox is just knockoff exploitative gmod. Only reason it keeps going is because its free to download.
More annoyed it hasn't been banned or sued under other consumer protection laws.
Good.
Lol when you agree with a ban that turkey made thats a strange day. Maybe a ban is a bit too much but roblox is shitty and they should be pressured to change... and this applies to most large companies
This is actually about the "condos", private ERP instances where children are exploited for robux.
I've always thought roblox was dumb, but its kind of just a playground. Kids need a playground where their imaginations are free to grow and thy're in control. Somewhere they can interact and learn how to socialize safely with other children. When i was a kid, that was a walk to the park with friends to kick a ball around, riding a bicycle somewhere, exploring, and working out some dumb activities to do... Honest question: how comfortable are you with the idea of just letting your kids go to the park by themselves for hours on end?
For better or worse, it seems like sandbox creativity games like roblox are filling that void for some kids. Not saying roblox is an answer to a problem, just that kids seem to be utilizing it as a playground where they get to be creative and in control. Not sure why I'm bringing this up. It's just a thought that occurred to me recently.
Kids deserve to have games like Roblox, but they don't deserve to be exploited financially by them by child labour and gambling mechanics.
As always, the answer to child welfare is to prevent them interacting directly with capitalism and markets. Children should always be given a communist upbringing with free food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and recreation.
Nice.
I regret to inform you that this news is: BASED
W
FYI, Instagram was blocked in Turkey a few days before Roblox ban. Both are still blocked.
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