Interactive video games have become a staple of childhood in the Americas and in Europe. Video games directed at our children are a fact of life, but simply because a game is directed at children doesn’t exclude the possibility of harmful content. In August, a Twitter user discovered Neo-Nazi hate speech and racist games on Roblox. Roblox is an online game with more than 100 million users worldwide. The tweet caught the attention of the news media, and an investigation ensued. The press in both Great Britain and the United States looked into the story and made some startling findings.
Roblox, a Game Designed for Children has been Coopted by Terrorist Groups.
Roblox is aimed at kids, and, if used properly, allows a child to use his or her imagination to create avatars and to build fantasy worlds full of adventure. They can use their imagination to direct and evolve their games. The game allows them to interact with other players and see their creations. They can engage in quests and battles with other players. The avatars are colorful, Lego type characters that appeal to children. Grade school age children love this game. Some game content is supposedly restricted for kids under the age of 13, but there is no age verification process. Kids as young as 6 or 7 can claim to be older and access the content. The game is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, Xbox One and Facebook’s Oculus Rift.
NBC investigators following up on the tweeted alerts, quickly found multiple instances of hate speech and neo-Nazi coded language with phrases like “Jews to Gas.” One mini-game on the site featured avatars in Nazi uniforms gunning down sickly looking people in jump suits. Another game contained people dressed in Klu Klux Klan robes beating black people.
More Information About What Investigators Found.
Even though this game, with its colorful, cartoon style backdrop and Lego type characters, is designed for children, parents need to understand that the minigames found on Roblox are created by the users. Many of those users are adults, and the games they create may be wildly inappropriate for children.
- One minigame discovered by a British news agency has players pretending to be a terrorist with a bomb heading to the World Trade Center.
- Another allows players to wear a bomb and carry an ISIS flag. The player then blows himself up with the bomb shouting “ALLAHUAKBAR.”
- There are a number of games with players wearing Nazi uniforms, swastika banners in the background, and with dialog about killing Jews and others.
A North Carolina woman reports walking up to her seven-year-old daughter who was playing on her iPad. The mother recognized male genitalia on the screen and snatched the iPad. On the screen she saw her daughter’s avatar being gang raped in a Roblox minigame. She immediately contacted Roblox and the authorities. Investigators found many instances of pornography on Roblox. Again, it is content created by the users and not by the software company. When investigators plugged in the search term “Roblox sex,” on YouTube, they got more than one million results. Roblox has repeatedly asked YouTube to remove these offensive videos, but so far, YouTube has not done so.
Other games like Counterstrike and Global Offensive attract teenagers. These are multiplayer games. The player must unite with others to form a team to reach an objective. These types of games involve chatting among players, both in the game and on separate chat rooms. One horror story comes from a Colorado father named John. John knew his 15-year-old son liked playing these games and chatting with other players online. He did not think much about it until one day when he walked into his son’s room and saw a pile of neo-Nazi propaganda next to the boy’s computer. The material spoke about whites being under attack by blacks, Mexicans and Jews. John was horrified. His son believed these people he met online were his friends. They talked to him about some of his problems at school and made him believe they cared.
Like many angry young men, the boy was seeking a target for his rage over problems at school. The group helped him direct that anger toward some black classmates. Fortunately, John discovered the problem in time. With family support and counseling, his son moved past his radical beliefs. It took time, but he has left the hate groups behind.
Joan Donovan, who is in charge of media manipulation research at Data and Society, a media research agency, has been following the online activities of white supremacist groups for years. She says white power groups have become incredibly innovative at using online sources for recruitment. One code they use is to donate $14.88, which refers to a neo-Nazi slogan. The number 88, often found on prison tattoos, stands for “Heil Hitler.”
Roblox has Rules That Prohibit Racist, Violent and Sexual Content.
Roblox does have a comprehensive set of rules for people who use the site. Those rules include the obligation to be a good member of the Roblox community and to report rule violations and offensive conduct. The site cautions users against divulging personal information like full names and email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, passwords, and other identifying information. Users are not permitted to exchange photographs on the site. There are rules to prevent (a) bullying and harassment, (b) discriminatory speech or actions, (c) child endangerment, (d) overly violent content or content related to tragic events in real life, and (e) pornography and sexual acts. Roblox has also published a list of consequences for violating its rules. What is the old saying? “Rules are made to be broken.” Roblox rules are being broken repeatedly all over the world. The big question is how can we stop Roblox and other game sites from being abused or used for evil purposes?
How Do Gaming Companies, Web Sites, and Others Prevent These Sites Intended for Children from Being Used by Terrorists and Pornographers?
That is the issue facing world governments, internet companies, and families all over the globe. The technical challenge of monitoring these sites is overwhelming when we consider 83 percent of teen girls play online games, and 97 percent of teenage boys play video games. The three largest video game platforms host a huge number of players each day. Microsoft has 48 million people playing games on its video platform; PlayStation has 70 million, and Steam has 130 million gamers. Those numbers added together are roughly equal to the populations of Spain, France and Russia. Imagine the task of monitoring players and content in every language and dialect in the world. Currently, Roblox has a team of 800 monitors who check on players and content every day, but that number does not begin to cover the playing field of users and minigames. With good intentions of creating games for kids, these companies have created things they are unable to control.
Clearly, parents have the front-line responsibility to protect their children from accessing violent, terrorist or pornographic games that can be found on Roblox and other online video games. These games offer great opportunities for kids to use their imaginations. Unfortunately, there will always be evil people who pervert these games to serve their own agenda.
Resources
www.npr.org/2018/11/05/660642531/right-wing-hate-groups-are-recruiting-video-gamers
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/extremists-creep-roblox-online-game-popular-children-n1045056
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203313410-Roblox-Community-Rules
www.thesun.co.uk/tech/6710158/roblox-game-racist-jihad-nazi-kkk-racism-twin-towers-children/
