Social justice advocacy groups slam Roblox for “silencing important voices” with new parental controls

Out Making Games (OMG), Women in Games (WIG), and BAME in Games (BiG) have co-written an open letter to Roblox calling on the company to reconsider the recent changes it has made concerning “sensitive issues,” claiming the changes are a “step backward for both creative expression and social justice.”

Roblox notified game makers in August that it was introducing a new “content descriptor and parental control [for] experiences that are primarily themed on a sensitive social, political, or religious issue,” including any experiences that provoke a “strong emotional response” or suggest “polarized viewpoints.”

While Roblox insisted the changes were made to “give parents of children under 13 the choice of how and when their children engage with these issues,” OMG, WIG, and BiG claim “these changes threaten to undermine the vibrant, inclusive creative community that has flourished on the platform since 2006, while potentially causing real harm to marginalised groups in society.”

This is because, the organizations claim, Roblox’s guidelines “specifically cite ‘issues such as immigration, capital punishment, gun control, marriage equality, pay equity in sports, prayer in schools, racial profiling, affirmative action, vaccination policies, and reproductive rights’ as examples requiring these descriptors.” Further, the joint letter states that by Roblox’s insistence that it is “not taking a stance,” “the effect is the opposite,” writing: “By categorising equality and human rights as ‘sensitive,’ the platform treats them as debatable rather than fundamental.”

“We support efforts to keep children safe online – especially girls, who face disproportionate harassment and grooming. But safety cannot be achieved by silencing content that educates and empowers,” the letter states. “Issues such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and gender equality are central to girls’ and women’s lived experiences. Marking these as ‘sensitive’ risks hiding content that is vital to representation, education, and inspiration.

“When these conversations are suppressed, the result is not safety but silence. It discourages young women from participating fully, reinforces harmful stereotypes, and weakens the pipeline of future creators and leaders […] This false neutrality downplays systemic racism by equating discrimination with the policies meant to remedy it, potentially emboldening those who deny or dismiss racial inequality.”

Consequently, OMG, WIG, BiG claim that parental controls should not “come at the expense of fundamental human dignity,” and is therefore calling on Roblox “to reconsider these guidelines and find ways to protect young users without legitimizing discrimination or silencing important voices.”

“[Roblox] has built something remarkable over nearly two decades,” the statement concludes. “It would be tragic to see that legacy undermined by policies that, intentionally or not, perpetuate the very inequalities that creative expression has the power to challenge and change.”

GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Roblox for comment.