Roblox is now banned throughout Russia due to a federal government agency’s claims that it allows for the spread of propaganda, including terrorist activity and support for the LGBTQIA+ movement. There are already at least eight other countries in the world where Roblox is restricted or banned, and Russia’s inclusion on that list is expected to block more than 2 million active daily users across the country from accessing it.
First launched in the fall of 2006, Roblox has grown into one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world, with an excess of 100 million active monthly players diving into thousands of different fan-made games. Some of the more popular games available through Roblox, which include but are not limited to Forsaken, Rivals, and Grow a Garden, posted daily player rates of well over 120,000 for November 2025, which puts them ahead of the current daily player counts of major Triple-A titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But despite the platform’s popularity, it’s also been a controversial talking point for a number of reasons this year, with Russia’s ban providing just the latest example.
Countries Where Roblox is Banned or Restricted
- China
- Indonesia
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Jordan
- North Korea
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
According to Russian news site TASS, Moscow-based media and communications supervision agency Roskomnadzor issued the ban in early December 2025 over “distribution of materials containing propaganda and justification of extremist and terrorist activity,” via a translation. As detailed in the report from the agency’s press service, this propaganda includes “incitement to unlawful sexual acts,” sexual harassment against minors, spreading of “intimate images,” gambling, attacks on education, calls for violent action, and dispersement of information related to the LGBT movement, which is also banned in the country. No specific games on Roblox have been singled out by the agency, and the press secretary implied that the alleged violations were also tied to Roblox‘s chat features and other means by which players communicate with one another.
This is not the first action Roskomnadzor has taken to restrict access to media that originates outside Russian borders since the start of Russia’s military engagement with Ukraine. The Russian government has listed Meta as an extremist organization, with Facebook and Instagram both receiving bans in 2022 and YouTube following suit in 2024. Also in 2024, Russia announced plans to ban Discord, a move which the country carried out during the following month, resulting in a heavy effect on the country’s gaming community. Individual games have generally managed to avoid making it on Russia’s Federal List of Extremist Materials, which is populated by a number of films, songs, books, websites, and religious texts from a number of different religions and philosophies.
However, several game developers have issued their own bans against Russia and Belarus following the escalation of hostilities with Ukraine, which include Russia’s occupation and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. These actions include EA’s Russian ban on Apex Legends and FIFA, as the company’s website confirms that it banned both countries from eligibility in its esports programs, stating, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.” Other gaming companies that have suspended or completely stopped sales to Russia in the past few years include Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, CD Projekt Red, Bloober Team, and Take-Two Interactive.
While the ban by the Russian government will likely take a chunk out of Roblox‘s player counts, it’s not the only controversy the company is undergoing. Roblox is currently facing child safety lawsuits from several states and individuals over allegations that it has failed to provide sufficient safety measures for minors and exposed them to sexually explicit content and exploitation by online predators. So far this year, the attorneys general of Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas have all filed individual suits on behalf of their respective states.
Roblox‘s leadership has decried much of the criticism against the company as sensationalism, but it has also implemented some additional safety measures following the wave of backlash against stories of its alleged negligence. The platform has been widely criticized for a lack of age verification by its users, and these new safety measures by Roblox include an age estimation system that requires users to scan their government-issued identification cards and upload self-shot photographs to the service. The platform has also restricted chat features for players aged 8 and under, has implemented chat group changes that attempt to sort minor players by age, and has introduced parental controls that let parents monitor their children’s screen time, friends lists, and accessed content.
- Released
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September 1, 2006
- ESRB
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Teen / Diverse Content: Discretion Advised,
In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact - Developer(s)
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Roblox Corporation
- Publisher(s)
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Roblox Corporation
