Russian MP urges domestic Roblox replacement after platform ban

Russian authorities may soon develop a domestic gaming platform to replace the American service Roblox, which was recently blocked in the country.

Vladislav Grib, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Public Chamber, emphasised the urgency of the initiative, noting the large number of inquiries from children concerned about the platform’s shutdown.

“I believe that if there is no ‘Roblox,’ then our own equivalent must appear immediately, as soon as possible. This is important for our children. We must respect their opinions and needs,” Grib told TASS.

Grib added that, before banning the foreign platform, authorities should have invested billions of rubles in creating a domestic alternative. “Providing children with such an interesting and convenient opportunity could have resolved the problem,” he said.

On December 3, Roskomnadzor officially blocked Roblox in Russia, citing the spread of extremist content and promotion of LGBT-related topics. The platform had been widely popular among children and teenagers.

Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the “Safe Internet League,” described the impact on children in a post on her Telegram channel. She noted that following the ban on popular online services, “every second child expressed a desire to leave Russia.”

Mizulina added that she has received thousands of requests for intervention to help unblock the game. “We will collect your letters regarding the restrictions on Roblox and send them to Roskomnadzor. This primarily concerns letters that contain facts and arguments. There are quite a lot of them,” she wrote. 

Expressing concern over the emotional toll on children, Mizulina wrote: “Right now, I cannot ignore children crying, and every second child, after the decisions to block the platform, writes that they want to leave Russia. These are children aged 8–16. These are kids who have always and everywhere carried Russian flags sincerely and wholeheartedly. What thoughts and feelings will they live with moving forward? That is what worries me the most right now. And I am not afraid to speak about it openly.”

By Tamilla Hasanova