Digital Development Ministry, Roskomnadzor ask law enforcement authorities to support Roblox unblocking in Russia

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - The Russian Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Ministry and the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) asked law enforcement authorities to support the lifting of restrictions on the Roblox gaming platform popular with children, having received guarantees of the platform's compliance with Russian laws.

"Due to the guarantees of responsible behavior on the Russian market provided by the Roblox company, the Digital Development Ministry jointly with Roskomnadzor have asked the respective law enforcement agencies to support the lifting of restrictions on accessing this platform on the territory of the Russian Federation," the ministry press service said.

"Coordination of terms, which would protect the rights and interests of Russian users of the online gaming platform, was successfully completed in early June," it said.

Access to Roblox was blocked in Russia on December 3, 2025. Roskomnadzor said in late December 2025 that Roblox had reached out and expressed their readiness to gradually bring its operations into compliance with Russian law.

"The Russian Digital Development Ministry supports the operations on the Russian market of global digital platforms that comply with Russian law," the press service said.

"The ministry and Roskomnadzor are in direct dialogue with operators of foreign digital services, the activity of which was limited by systemic violations of the law," it said.

In the course of dialogue, Roblox Corporation "admitted that the existent technologies protecting children from information dangerous to their life and health had been ineffective," the press service said.

"In fact, this led to propaganda of suicidal behavior and the use of narcotic drugs, and the posting of materials aimed to draw minors into illegal actions on the platform," it said.

"As a result of consultations, the Russian side received Roblox's guarantees of a set of measures to be taken for the additional protection of children from harmful and dangerous information and the undesirable behavior of other users on the platform," the press service said.

"As early as in June of this year, Roblox will launch a mechanism limiting access to games by age group (Roblox Kids and Roblox Select)," it said.

"The corporation also confirmed its obligation to fight the posting and dissemination of content harmful to children's health and development on the platform," the press service said.

Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said at the IT breakfast on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 8 that age identification on online platforms would be an item on "the immediate agenda" of the ministry. Europe and many developed countries have taken this path, "the path of harsh restrictions," he said.

In particular, the ministry is studying the Roblox online gaming platform's age identification practices.

Roblox is an online gaming platform, developed in the United States in 2026, which allows any user to create one's own games and to play games created by others. According to the company's report for the third quarter last year, it has over 150 million daily active users worldwide.

The developer, Roblox Corporation, directly listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021. Its market value roughly stood at $45 billion at the time.