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Who owns Roblox? Popular children's game under fire after parents found it riddled with antisemitic content

A number of users noticed several avatars that appeared to be antisemitic parodies dressed in attire that is often used by the Jewish community

SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA: Roblox, an online gaming platform which is owned by David Baszucki and Gregory Baszucki, has come under fire after concerned parents found it riddled with vile antisemitic content, including the burning of Israel flags and avatars named 'Hatred of Jews'.

Roblox, aimed at children aged eight to 14, is a huge virtual gaming space in which users can create worlds from scratch and visit others. No age verification is required to register a Roblox account, and there are no limits to content that may be seen in these areas.

However, a number of users recently noticed several avatars that appeared to be antisemitic parodies dressed in attire that is often used by the Jewish community.

In addition, there were also pictures of blood-smeared avatars chanting, "I won't stop until Palestine is free," or the Israeli flag followed by the poo emoji, according to Daily Mail.

The vast majority of the obscene content seems to be a reaction to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant organization that invaded Israeli land on October 7 and abducted over 220 individuals in addition to killing over 1,400 people.

What antisemitic material does Roblox contain?

A concerned parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Jewish News that their 9-year-old son recently noticed a surge in Roblox avatars that were holding Palestinian flags and chanting “Free, free Palestine.”

“I decided to have a look on the Roblox platform and searched under the term ‘Palestine’ where I found several realms that were designed as meeting points for pro-Palestinian rallies and which clearly contained antisemitic and anti-Israel content.”

In one realm, the parent found “two burning Israeli flags and near to it a jihadist flag.” She discovered another avatar calling for the destruction of Israel, declaring "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

“It did not take us long to discover all of these things, nor did it take long for us to go to a virtual mosque and find people chanting: ‘Free, free Palestine and death to Israel,’” the parent continued.

There was also one avatar that had been created using antisemitic tropes and was carrying bags of money. In the same spaces, Daily Mail also found evidence of islamophobia, including statements such as 'I side with non-Muslims' and 'Palestine is not a state'.

Some individuals, however, were considerably more overtly antisemitic, posting things like "Israel is [the] worst country" and "Israel are dogs."

Previously, videos circulating on social media and past livestreams also showed users marching on virtual brick streets lined with Palestinian flags and large signs that read “Solidarity Untukmu Palestine,” according to CNBC.

Internet reacts to Roblox’s antisemitic content

After Roblox’s content surfaced on social media, several internet users came forward to slam the gaming platform for not banning antisemitic content.

“What happened when the game went political,” one user wrote. “Building worlds inside a game to hate on Jewish people..this just affirms how out of touch with reality these people are,” a second user said.

“Roblox is a platform that should be safe for everyone, and it's clear that this type of content has no place here. I hope that Roblox will take swift action to address this issue and ensure that all users feel welcome and safe,” the third user fumed while the fourth asserted, “Hate has its place, but the destruction they are doing in Palestine is unbearable.”

“They are all hypocrites. How can one be advocating freedom for one and being saying praise be to their god when Hamas first strikes Israel,” another user stated.