Is Roblox being unblocked in Turkey? When will Roblox be accessible again?

Roblox, which has millions of users worldwide and was blocked in Turkey by the BTK in August 2024, is making significant updates and announcements to restore access to the application.

The company, which stated in recent months that negotiations are ongoing to open an office in Turkey and bring the popular game back to its players, has now introduced important innovations aimed at ensuring the safety of child users. Following these updates, which cover parental controls and in-game messaging for children, expectations that Roblox will be unblocked in the near future have strengthened.

THE REASON WAS ANNOUNCED AS CHILD ABUSE

In the access ban announcement made by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), it was stated that "roblox.com has been blocked by the decision of the Adana 6th Criminal Court of Peace dated 07/08/2024 and numbered 2024/5282 D. İş." Subsequently, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç stated that the reason for the ban was child abuse, saying, "The misuse of technology can never be tolerated. Everyone who cares about the future of our country and our nation and carries responsibility must be careful against such incidents targeting our children and avoid populist and irresponsible rhetoric. Attempts to shake the social structure, child abuse, incitement to violence, and any activity that will harm the healthy development of our children will absolutely not be allowed."

UPDATE FOR CHILDREN'S SAFETY!

In line with these developments, the gaming company announced a new update package that prioritizes children's safety. Here is the statement Roblox made regarding safety...

"The innovations that Roblox will announce include built-in safety protections on the platform, significant updates to parental controls, content labeling, and new stricter limits for young users.

Parents and caregivers will be able to remotely manage their children's Roblox accounts through a verified linked account. They will have the authority to view their children's friend lists, set spending controls, and manage screen time.

Updated default communication settings will be applied directly for users under 13, and parental consent will be required for access to certain chat features. Specifically: Users under 13 will not be able to send direct messages (platform chat) outside of games or experiences.

Roblox will only allow public broadcast messages within a game or experience for users under 13. As a default setting, users in this age group will no longer be able to send direct messages. This setting can only be changed with parental consent through parental controls.

STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO OPEN AN OFFICE IN TURKEY

Roblox, which was blocked in August, had announced plans to open an office in Turkey following the lifting of the ban. Company officials stated that they had already removed the content that caused the ban and said, "We are trying to understand the reasons for our banning." They expressed that they were conducting negotiations with relevant institutions, primarily the BTK, to resolve the issue.

IT HAS OVER 380 MILLION USERS

According to the statement made regarding the blocking of the popular gaming platform in August 2024, it is stated that the total number of users worldwide is over 380 million. This figure is approximately twice that of Steam, one of the leading platforms in the computer gaming market, and three times that of the famous Sony PlayStation. It is stated that the number of Roblox users in Turkey has exceeded 15 million.

News Source: 12punto