DICT nixes plan to ban Roblox

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday announced that it has abandoned plans to ban Roblox in the country, following the online gaming platform’s commitment to enhance safeguards amid child safety concerns.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the DICT said the decision was made after meeting with officials and representatives from Roblox, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and law enforcement agencies on April 7.

During the meeting, Roblox outlined its stricter safeguards on its platform, which include stricter monitoring, reporting mechanisms, and age-appropriate content controls.

The DICT added that Roblox will conduct an information campaign starting April 12 to promote the stricter safeguards and provide guidelines to parents on the proper use of the platform for their children.

The agency enumerated the following measures to ensure the safety of their children’s digital experience:

• Monitoring scree time
• Setting limits on purchases
• Blocking inappropriate experiences
• Choosing age-appropriate content

“Digital safety ay responsibilidad ng platform, gobyerno, at bawat pamilya. Sama-sama nating bantayan at protektahan ang kabataang Pilipino sa online space,” the DICT said.

(Digital safety is the responsibility of the platform, government, and every family. Let us watch over and protect the Filipino youth in the online space together.)

The CICC earlier said that banning the Roblox was the last option Philippine authorities wanted to take.

Roblox is a virtual gaming platform where users can create and share their own games. Users only need to install the application and set up a profile and avatar to get started.

However, authorities raised concerns over user anonymity, following reports that some young users were allegedly recruited for illegal activities.

The meeting between the representatives from Roblox and the DICT-CICC came days before the April 10 deadline set by the agency to address child safety concerns. — BAP, GMA News