When the Kremlin pulls the plug: Russia's digital campaign against Roblox – fear of "Western decadence"?

The end of digital innocence: Roblox as the latest victim in the Russian culture war

On December 3, 2025, Russian reality caught up with the virtual world: With the blocking of Roblox by the media regulator Roskomnadzor, an estimated 24 million users—the majority of them children and teenagers—lost access to one of the most important digital platforms of our time. But what was officially declared a measure to protect against “extremist content” and “LGBT propaganda” turns out, upon closer inspection, to be far more than just a media literacy intervention. It is the provisional culmination of a years-long process in which the Kremlin is attempting to purge the Russian internet of Western influences and enforce a “digital sovereignty” that is increasingly taking on the characteristics of total isolation.

The blocking of the American platform, which connects over 150 million people worldwide daily and functions as a creative ecosystem, marks a watershed moment. It not only strikes at the heart of a politically uncontroversial target group, but also destroys a thriving economic sector for Russian developers, who are now cut off from a global multi-billion-dollar market. The decision reveals the fundamental dilemma of the Russian leadership: the attempt to enforce traditional values ​​through technological censorship is driving an entire generation, "Generation Z," into the illegality of VPN tunnels and shadow networks.

This article examines the background of the blockade, analyzes the economic collateral damage, and places the event within the context of Moscow's geopolitical strategy. It demonstrates how a gaming platform became the stage for an ideological proxy war and why experts warn that this could be just the next step towards a closed-off "RuNet" modeled on North Korea's.

Suitable for:

• Metaverse AI worlds, real-time translation & billions for developers: Roblox enters a new era

Millions of Russian children are losing their virtual playground – Moscow's answer to a culture war that no one can win.

The Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor's ban of the American gaming platform Roblox on December 3, 2025, marks another milestone in Moscow's systematic isolation from the global digital ecosystem. What at first glance appears to be an isolated decision to protect young people, upon closer examination reveals itself to be a complex interplay of geopolitical confrontation, ideological positioning, and economic realities. For an estimated 24 million Russian users, a significant proportion of whom are children and adolescents, this decision means the loss of access to one of the world's most popular gaming platforms.

The official justification from the Russian authorities follows a now familiar pattern. Roskomnadzor accuses Roblox of disseminating extremist material and promoting so-called LGBT propaganda, which has been classified as extremist under Russian law since the tightening of the relevant legislation in 2023. The agency argues that the platform is riddled with inappropriate content that could negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children. This rhetoric fits seamlessly into the ideological narrative that the Kremlin has cultivated for years, positioning traditional Russian values ​​against supposedly decadent Western influences.

The economic weight of a gaming platform

To fully grasp the implications of this shutdown, one must first understand the sheer scale of Roblox. The platform averaged 151.5 million daily active users worldwide in the third quarter of 2024 and generated over $3.6 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024. Its user base grew steadily from 47.3 million daily users in 2022 to 85.3 million in 2025, representing an impressive growth of nearly 80 percent in just three years.

Russia occupies a remarkable position in this context. It is estimated that approximately 7.5 percent of all Roblox users are from Russia, making it one of the most significant markets outside of North America. Russian ranks second among all languages ​​used on the platform, with a share of 12.1 percent, even ahead of Spanish and Portuguese. These figures illustrate not only the platform's cultural reach in Russia but also the economic potential that will be lost with the ban.

Roblox generated over $659 million in revenue in Europe in 2024, with a significant portion coming from the Russian market. The platform functions as a virtual ecosystem where users can not only play games but also develop their own gaming experiences and earn real-world income by selling virtual goods. Between March 2024 and March 2025, Roblox developers worldwide earned over $1 billion, an increase of more than 31 percent year-over-year. Russian developers, who were part of this global creative community, are now losing not only their source of income but also access to millions of potential players.

The anatomy of a digital exclusion

The blocking of Roblox is by no means a spontaneous act, but the result of a process that has been ongoing for years. Since 2019, Roskomnadzor had repeatedly made requests to the platform to restrict access to publications classified as prohibited. In January and July 2024, Roblox had already deleted content deemed problematic under Russian law at the agency's request, including servers with LGBT-related labels and characters with corresponding symbols.

The Russian law on protecting children from harmful information, originally passed in 2010 and subsequently amended several times, provides the legal basis for such measures. The 2013 amendment added the dissemination of so-called propaganda for non-traditional sexual relationships as a category of harmful content, and the further tightening in 2022 extended these restrictions to all age groups. Finally, the Supreme Court's classification of the international LGBT movement as an extremist organization in November 2023 created the conditions for the prosecution of anything that could be interpreted as supporting this movement.

For Roblox, as a user-generated platform, this legal situation poses a fundamental problem. With over 40 million games, most of which are created by users themselves, complete control of all content is virtually impossible. While Roblox does employ multi-layered moderation systems, from AI-powered filtering to the review of uploaded models, the sheer scale of the platform inevitably leaves room for content that violates strict Russian regulations.

The global context of child safety

The Russian authorities' justification that child safety is their top priority is not entirely unfounded. Roblox is indeed facing global criticism, with accusations ranging from inadequate moderation and enabling predatory behavior by adults to the financial exploitation of underage users. The platform has already been blocked or restricted in several countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Turkey.

Turkey blocked Roblox in August 2024 due to concerns about content that could lead to child exploitation. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated at the time that the country was obligated to take the necessary measures to protect its children. This decision came within a broader context of increasing state control over digital platforms in Turkey, which had also blocked Instagram shortly before.

In the United States itself, lawsuits against Roblox are mounting. The attorneys general of Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas filed lawsuits throughout 2025 accusing the platform of systematically endangering children and misleading parents about the true risks. One law firm stated it is investigating hundreds of cases of alleged sexual exploitation and child abuse originating on Roblox. Internal company data shows that reports of alleged sexual exploitation of children rose from 675 in 2019 to 13,316 in 2023.

This criticism highlights a paradox in the Russian argument. On the one hand, Moscow draws on legitimate concerns shared worldwide. On the other hand, the Kremlin instrumentalizes these concerns for an ideologically motivated agenda in which the protection of traditional values ​​appears at least as important as protecting children from actual danger.

Russia's digital sovereignty as a strategic project

The blocking of Roblox is part of a much broader project that the Kremlin calls digital sovereignty. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent Western sanctions, Moscow has systematically worked to increase its control over the Russian segment of the internet and reduce its reliance on foreign technologies.

The so-called Sovereign Internet Act of 2019 obliges internet providers to install deep packet inspection devices, enabling authorities to analyze and filter internet traffic. Roskomnadzor was thus granted unprecedented powers, including an official off switch that the agency can activate at its own discretion. The costs for this infrastructure are financed partly from the state budget and partly through higher internet fees for users.

The technical capabilities for blocking content have since developed considerably. In August 2025, according to an internet protection organization, Russia recorded 2,129 internet shutdowns, an all-time record. Authorities now block approximately 200 VPN services and 700 websites that advertise VPNs. As of April 2024, 200,000 websites were blocked in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The list of blocked Western platforms reads like a directory of the most important global communication services. Facebook and Instagram were completely blocked in 2022 after Meta was classified as an extremist organization. YouTube, which still functioned until the end of 2024, was rendered virtually inaccessible through systematic throttling. The messaging services Viber, Discord, and Signal are blocked, while WhatsApp and Telegram are subject to restrictions on voice and video calls and are threatened with complete blocking.

The economic dimensions of the Russian gaming market

Despite sanctions and the exodus of Western companies, the Russian video game market has demonstrated remarkable resilience. At the end of 2024, market volume reached 186.6 billion rubles, a 6.1 percent increase year-on-year. The PC gaming sector dominated, accounting for 48 percent of revenue, or 89.8 billion rubles, followed by the mobile segment with 44 percent, or 81.4 billion rubles.

Russian gamers' spending on computer and mobile games rose by 7.5 percent in 2024 to 173 billion rubles. However, the market for pirated games also grew dramatically. The XYZ Online School estimates the volume of the Russian video game piracy market at 281 billion rubles in 2024, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. According to their findings, two-thirds of gamers in Russia have installed a pirated copy at least once.

This development is a direct consequence of the withdrawal of Western companies. Following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, major publishers such as Bethesda, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, CD Projekt, and Wargaming left the Russian market. The popular platform Steam no longer accepts payments with Russian bank cards, and new games are no longer being translated into Russian. The share of legal game sales shrank from approximately 50 percent to just 10 percent.

The Russian state has attempted to fill this gap by promoting domestic game development. A national project called "Game Industry of the Future" was discussed, which envisioned funding of up to 50 billion rubles to support Russian studios. The most prominent result of these efforts is the game "Smuta," which cost 490 million rubles to develop and focuses on patriotic themes from Russian history. However, the response has been lukewarm, and the goal of creating an independent Russian game industry capable of competing with Western productions still seems a distant prospect.

Industry focus: B2B, digitalization (from AI to XR), mechanical engineering, logistics, renewable energies and industry

More about it here:

• Xpert Business Hub

A topic hub with insights and expertise:

• Knowledge platform on the global and regional economy, innovation and industry-specific trends
• Collection of analyses, impulses and background information from our focus areas
• A place for expertise and information on current developments in business and technology
• Topic hub for companies that want to learn about markets, digitalization and industry innovations

The ideological dimension of the culture war

The blocking of Roblox must be understood within the context of a broader ideological project that the Kremlin has been pursuing for years. The emphasis on traditional values ​​as the foundation of Russian identity began no later than 2007 with Putin's speech at the Munich Security Conference and has since developed into a central element of state doctrine.

The 2021 National Security Strategy defines a comprehensive list of values ​​considered to be under threat: life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, patriotism, civic spirit, service to the fatherland, noble moral ideals, a strong family, constructive work, the primacy of the spiritual over the material, humanism, compassion, justice, collectivism, mutual aid and respect, historical memory and generational continuity, and the unity of the peoples of Russia. The loss of these values ​​through the spread of foreign culture is explicitly defined as a threat to national security.

Since the start of the war against Ukraine in 2022, this rhetoric has intensified. In a speech, Putin described the West as satanic and a disregard for moral standards. The confrontation is portrayed as an existential struggle between civilizations, in which Russia stands as a bulwark against decadent Western modernity. Video games, as products of the Western culture industry, inevitably come under scrutiny.

Russian authorities increasingly view gaming platforms as battlegrounds in information warfare. Microsoft President Brad Smith reported in 2023 that the company's security services had detected Russian attempts to systematically infiltrate gaming communities. Pro-Russian propaganda justifying the war in Ukraine and glorifying the Russian military was disseminated on platforms like Minecraft and Discord. Minecraft even featured a reenactment of the Battle of Soledar, a Ukrainian city captured by Russian troops in early 2023.

Conversely, Western games serve as channels for information that contradicts the Kremlin narrative. The game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was used to inform Russian players about the true course of the war and to circumvent the restrictions of state censorship. This dynamic explains the particular distrust of Russian authorities toward platforms they cannot fully control.

Suitable for:

• Metaverse platforms in comparison: A comprehensive analysis – From Roblox to Horizon: Where is it worth getting started?

Generation Z between adaptation and resistance

For the younger generation in Russia, the increasing isolation from global digital culture is a defining experience. This generation grew up in a Russia that once promised travel, global brands, and open media, and now finds itself in a country characterized by copies of Western businesses, patriotic education, and state-controlled apps.

The use of VPNs to circumvent restrictions has become widespread practice. In March 2025, 36 percent of Russians reported using VPNs regularly or occasionally, compared to 25 percent a year earlier. Among young people aged 18 to 24, this figure rises to 62 percent. These numbers suggest that a significant portion of the population is actively trying to maintain access to the global information landscape.

Authorities are responding with increasingly restrictive measures. From September 2025, advertising VPN services will be prohibited, and fines will be imposed for searching for extremist material using VPNs. Individuals intentionally searching for prohibited content face fines of up to 5,000 rubles. Organizations promoting VPN services can be fined up to 500,000 rubles.

The situation of Russian youth is fraught with contradictions. They are connected to the outside world through VPNs, Telegram, and imported iPhones, yet simultaneously isolated by censorship, propaganda, and restricted travel. They can mock the knock-off brands that have replaced foreign originals, but cannot simply study abroad or follow global TikTok trends without additional technological assistance. This generation adapts quickly to new circumstances, finds ways around prohibitions, and remains connected to global culture. But they are also growing up in a system that narrows horizons, enforces loyalty, and attempts to mold them into a generation of conformists.

The logic of escalation

The Roblox ban is not an isolated incident, but rather part of an escalating spiral that is increasingly affecting more and more areas of digital life. Shortly before the Roblox block, Roskomnadzor threatened to completely ban WhatsApp. The language learning app Duolingo removed references to non-traditional sexual relationships last year to avoid being banned. The anime and manga database MyAnimeList was blocked in October 2025 due to its LGBT content.

The children's rights commissioner for the Moscow region, Ksenia Mishonova, had already called for restricting access to Roblox in Russia before the ban, describing the platform as a plague. Another reason for demanding a ban was a game scenario that recreated the Chernobyl disaster, in which players could trigger a nuclear reactor explosion and observe the consequences.

Authorities have also targeted other games. In 2022, the Russian parliament debated banning The Sims 4 after an update bug caused characters to show romantic interest in relatives. Later, other games were criticized, including The Sims 3, Assassin's Creed, Dragon Age, Life Is Strange, The Last of Us, Apex Legends, and Overwatch, which lawmakers deemed to contain undesirable themes. In 2024, the St. Petersburg prosecutor's office attempted to block the strategy game Last Train Home for distorting historical facts and damaging traditional values, but the court dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

In October 2025, the Ukrainian developer studio GSC Game World, creators of the STALKER series, was classified as an undesirable organization by the Prosecutor General's Office. Players who purchase STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl after the ban face fines or up to five years in prison. This measure demonstrates the long reach of the Russian justice system and how seriously the authorities take the ideological dimension of video games.

The North Korean model as a threat backdrop

Experts warn that Russia is technically and legally capable of implementing North Korea's model of complete isolation from the global internet at any time. The infrastructure for such a measure has been built up over years, and the regulatory framework is in place. In November, the Central Bank of Russia conducted an exercise disconnecting the RuNet from the international network, officially to confirm its readiness in the event of deliberate external interference.

The state budget allocates substantial funds for expanding surveillance and blocking capabilities. Eighty percent of the planned expenditures are earmarked for upgrading technical measures to combat threats, a system that is legally mandated to be installed by all Russian internet providers. Russia is investing heavily in domestic technologies such as deep packet inspection and VPN blocking algorithms to block 96 percent of civilian VPN traffic.

At the same time, experience shows that complete isolation is practically impossible to enforce. VPN developers respond to every new blockade with new protocols and circumvention strategies. The cat-and-mouse dynamic between censors and users continues, and so far the government has not succeeded in completely preventing access to blocked content.

The perspective of the affected users

For the millions of Russian children and teenagers who regularly used Roblox, the shutdown means the abrupt loss of a virtual meeting place. On forums and social media, users immediately expressed their disappointment and confusion after the ban. Many reported that they initially assumed it was a technical problem before realizing it was a government-imposed block.

The Russian developer community on Roblox is losing not only access to the platform, but also its livelihood. Roblox had established itself as a springboard for young developers who could generate real income by selling in-game items and player experiences. Worldwide, there are over 4.2 million developers on the platform, a significant proportion of whom are from Russia.

Roblox itself has not yet commented extensively on the ban. The company had already restricted access to its connected communication service, Guilded, for Russian users in October 2024, apparently anticipating a potential block. This proactive measure suggests that the company had foreseen the development.

Between child protection and information control

The debate surrounding the Roblox ban reveals a fundamental tension between legitimate concerns about child protection and the instrumentalization of these concerns for political ends. Roblox does indeed have significant problems with content moderation and the protection of underage users, as evidenced by lawsuits and investigations worldwide.

The company has recently invested heavily in safety measures. In November 2024, Roblox announced mandatory age verification to prevent children from chatting with adult strangers. The platform uses AI-powered moderation systems, maintains moderation teams, and, according to its own statements, cooperates with law enforcement and child protection experts. In September 2025, the company introduced a new AI-driven age verification system, which is planned to be extended to chat features.

These efforts, however, have not satisfied critics. The prosecutors who have filed lawsuits argue that the security measures are late and ineffective. The controversy surrounding YouTuber Schlep, who specialized in tracking down suspected pedophiles on Roblox and was subsequently banned from the platform, highlighted the tensions between the company and those demanding stricter measures.

The Russian argument, however, differs fundamentally from this debate. While Western critics focus primarily on the dangers posed by predatory behavior from adults, the Russian justification prioritizes ideological content. The concern is less about individual abuse than about the supposed cultural contamination by Western values. This prioritization reveals that child protection serves, at least in part, as a pretext for the implementation of an ideological agenda.

The future of the Russian internet

The blocking of Roblox is likely not the end, but rather another step in an ongoing trend. Authorities have continuously expanded their ability to block foreign platforms, and the list of blocked services is expected to grow further.

The Russian government is simultaneously pursuing the development of its own alternatives to Western services. The messaging app Max is intended to be positioned as the Russian equivalent of WeChat and to replace the blocked foreign communication services. In the social media sector, VKontakte has consolidated its dominant position, while foreign competitors are disappearing. However, developing a strong domestic gaming industry remains a challenge for the gaming sector.

The economic costs of this isolation are substantial but difficult to quantify. The decline in legal game sales and the rise in piracy mean lost revenue for international companies, as well as for the Russian treasury. The loss of access to global developer platforms like Roblox limits the opportunities for young Russian developers to gain international experience and build networks.

For users, much depends on how effective the circumvention strategies remain. Past experience shows that a determined segment of the population finds ways to bypass the blocks. Whether this remains possible in the long term will depend on technological developments on both sides, both in the blocking tools used by the authorities and in the circumvention tools employed by users.

A platform as a reflection of global tensions

The banning of Roblox in Russia is far more than a technical process or a youth policy measure. It is a symptom of deep-seated geopolitical upheavals and an example of how digital spaces are becoming arenas of ideological confrontation. The platform, a place of play and creativity for millions of children worldwide, has become, in the Russian context, a symbol of a culture war that extends far beyond the confines of virtual worlds.

The economic dimensions are considerable. Russia loses access to a platform with global revenues exceeding $3.6 billion and a continuously growing user base. Russian developers lose their revenue streams, and the Russian gaming community is cut off from a significant segment of the global ecosystem.

The ideological implications, however, run even deeper. The ban underscores how seriously the Kremlin takes the threat it perceives in Western cultural products. Video games, once considered apolitical entertainment, are now portrayed as vectors of cultural influence against which the state must protect its citizens. This logic follows the broader narrative of an existential conflict between traditional Russian values ​​and Western decadence.

For the younger generation in Russia, this development represents a further restriction of their connection to global culture. They are growing up in an environment increasingly isolated from the outside world, while the state attempts to mold them into a generation of patriotic conformity. Whether this attempt succeeds, or whether the digital generation finds ways to circumvent these walls, will determine not only the future of the Russian internet, but potentially also the direction the country will take in the coming decades.

Ki-Gamechanger: The most flexible AI platform-tailor-made solutions that reduce costs, improve their decisions and increase efficiency

Independent AI platform: Integrates all relevant company data sources

• Fast AI integration: tailor-made AI solutions for companies in hours or days instead of months
• Flexible infrastructure: cloud-based or hosting in your own data center (Germany, Europe, free choice of location)

• Highest data security: Use in law firms is the safe evidence
• Use across a wide variety of company data sources
• Choice of your own or various AI models (DE, EU, USA, CN)

More about it here:

• Independent AI platforms vs. hyperscalers: Which solution is right for you?

I would be happy to serve as your personal advisor.

contact me under Wolfenstein ∂ Xpert.digital

call me under +49 89 674 804 (Munich)

LinkedIn
 

 

Xpert.Digital has in-depth knowledge of various industries. This allows us to develop tailor-made strategies that are tailored precisely to the requirements and challenges of your specific market segment. By continually analyzing market trends and following industry developments, we can act with foresight and offer innovative solutions. Through the combination of experience and knowledge, we generate added value and give our customers a decisive competitive advantage.

More about it here:

• Use the 5x expertise of Xpert.Digital in one package - starting at just €500/month