Roblox Ban Urged Despite Chat Block

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A proposal to ban ‘Roblox’ in Bahrain has been approved by Parliament’s Services Committee, despite regulators saying chat had already been disabled in the kingdom and warning that a full block could push children towards VPNs and riskier websites.

The proposal, submitted by MP Dr Maryam Al Dhaen, asks the government to take legal and technical steps to ban the game, stop it being offered through official app stores, and bar downloads in Bahrain.

Dr Maryam said the aim was ‘to protect children and young people from the psychological, behavioural and security risks’ linked to the game.

She said: ‘The game contains virtual spaces and open chats that may allow unsuitable material to be exchanged among children.’

The services committee report ties the call to Article 5 of the Constitution, which says the family is the basis of society and that the state must protect motherhood, childhood and young people from exploitation and moral, physical and spiritual neglect.

Dr Maryam argued that the game carries three main risks: unsuitable content, contact between minors and strangers, and possible harm to children’s behaviour and mental wellbeing.

She said: ‘There are security risks, including the chance that the game is used for contact between minors and strangers, opening the door to cybercrime and exploitation.’

She also cited addiction, social withdrawal and behavioural disorders said to have been seen among some children using the game, adding that the proposal was in keeping with Bahrain’s policy of protecting children from harmful online material.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority told the committee it shared MPs’ concern over children being exposed to age-inappropriate content, but said it had already opened direct channels with Roblox and joined Gulf-level talks to strengthen the region’s hand with the company.

The authority said those talks led to facial age verification, meant to stop children from creating adult accounts and to keep content within age bands. It said Roblox had also answered meeting requests, sent representatives to Bahrain when needed, and removed a flaw spotted by the authority linked to locating users through IP addresses.

On contact with strangers, the authority said all direct communication tools inside the Gulf region had been removed, including text and voice chat, to protect children from unwanted contact. It added that Roblox had agreed to close or alter any feature that allowed direct contact outside age rules or carried possible risk.

The authority said the risk of online exploitation had fallen as a result.