DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM?

In light of the recent scrutiny of Roblox over child safety concerns in West Asia, TNIE examines the scenario in the fast-growing gaming ecosystem of Kerala

- RONNIE KURIAKOSE

It is perhaps easy for the casual observer to dismiss the recent scrutiny of the popular gaming platform, Roblox, by several countries in West Asia as yet another inevitable clash between largely conservative regulators and global tech. But doing so would mean being unmindful of the unease simmering beneath the headlines.

That is, what happens when children's play spaces are built, run, and occupied by strangers online?

Readers may recall that India, too, has had its own dance with digital bans in the past. In 2020, the Union government pulled the plug on PUBG Mobile, a popular mobile game at the time. The move was instigated in part by data concerns linked to the game's Chinese publisher, Tencent, amid escalating tensions on the Indo-Chinese border.

But giving it also moral ballast was a growing public outcry over teenagers becoming increasingly glued to their screens, some skipping school and even falling sick after marathon sessions on the game.

Another game, Garena Free Fire, too, met a similar fate for the same reasons two years later.

But this Roblox scenario is unlike these episodes. This time, the anxiety is not about or limited to data concerns or addiction. It also encompasses child safety.

For all its perceived boons, the platform has one fatal flaw. Given how it is set up, Roblox's playgrounds (experiences, as the developers would like to call them) could also be hunting grounds for predators and scamsters.

This concern has been widely flagged in the US, where Roblox recently was in the news for removal of 'vigilantes' on the platform.