Khaberni - The Supreme Council for Media Regulation in Egypt announced the council's decision to officially block the Roblox game in Egypt.
This was stated by Essam El-Amir, Vice President of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, during his speech at today’s general session of the Senate.
El-Amir confirmed coordination with the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to enforce the decision.
Why did Egypt decide to ban Roblox?
Dr. Walaa Hermas Redwan, a member of the Senate, had submitted a proposal a few days ago to regulate the situation of the electronic gaming platform "Roblox," aiming to protect children's moral and educational values, mitigate psychological and behavioral risks associated with platform use, and regulate the operation of electronic gaming platforms in general.
The Senate Committee on Education, Scientific Research, Communications, and Information Technology, in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, discussed the proposal concerning the regulation of the "Roblox" gaming platform, as part of efforts aimed at protecting youth from inappropriate content.
The committee member presenting the proposal reviewed the explanatory note and research appendix, which defined the nature of the platform and highlighted the risks and negative effects associated with it, particularly inappropriate content for children, enabling direct communication with strangers, and psychological and behavioral impacts on young users.
The memorandum also addressed the economic and behavioral dimensions resulting from in-game purchasing systems and reviewed a number of lawsuits, legal disputes, and international warnings related to the platform, in addition to presenting various international experiences in regulating or banning the use of "Roblox."
Global efforts against Roblox risks
The Consumer Protection Authority (ACM) in the Netherlands, announced the day before yesterday, Friday, that it had launched an investigation into the American gaming platform "Roblox" regarding the potential risks that may affect underage users in the European Union.
The regulatory authority indicated that it would assess whether "Roblox" is taking sufficient measures to protect minors in accordance with the European Union's Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to take appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the safety of minors using their services.
The platform has more than 85 million active daily users, approximately 40% of whom are under the age of thirteen, and contains over six million games and interactive experiences, most of which are produced by the users themselves, making it difficult to closely monitor and control the content.
Several countries around the world have banned the "Roblox" game recently, including: "Russia - China - Sultanate of Oman - Iraq - Jordan - Turkey".
In addition, the Saudi Media Regulatory Authority has required the Roblox gaming platform to disable voice and text chats, and block more than 300,000 games within the category of "social gathering games".
