The Turkish Education Minister, Yusuf Tekin, has accused the online gaming platform Roblox of “digital fascism” as his government has blocked the game for a third day. This was reported by the Velev news website on Friday.
“Popular platforms like Roblox can lead our children towards digital addiction and expose them to dangerous content,” said the minister. “This can be described as digital fascism.”
The ban was ordered by the Adana 6th Criminal Court of Peace. It follows a similar recent ban on Instagram.
Roblox allows users to program and play games created by themselves or others. It has a large user base among children and teenagers in Turkey. Despite its popularity, Roblox has faced criticism for its content moderation, microtransactions, and alleged exploitative practices towards children.
Minister Tekin argued that the content on the platform may negatively impact students’ social, academic, and psychological development. “Let’s not forget that it is our shared responsibility to protect our children from the digital fascism of social media tools,” he said.
Roblox Corporation acknowledged the ban and said they are in contact with the authorities to understand the reasons for the ban and to work on restoring access as soon as possible.
Roblox is not the only video game- platform to be banned by the Turkish government. In February 2024 the streaming sites Kick and Twitch were banned following controversy over gambling streams.
The recent bans are part of a broader trend of increasing scrutiny and regulation of online platforms by Turkish authorities. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration has been regularly accused of suppressing freedom of expression and information, with Turkey ranking among the “not free” countries in terms of internet freedom, according to Freedom House.
Instagram has been banned in Turkey since last Friday, with government officials and President Erdoğan accusing the platform of censorship and failing to remove posts they deem offensive.
Turkish authorities have in the past temporarily blocked access to other social media sites, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Wikipedia.
