Russia’s federal media regulator has blocked access to U.S. children’s online gaming platform Roblox for allegedly violating the country’s infamous law against LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”

Reuters reports that Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, announced the ban on December 3, claiming that Roblox is “rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children.”

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Under Russian law, so-called LGBTQ+ “propaganda” has been banned in the presence of minors since 2013. In late 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation expanding the 2013 law to effectively outlaw any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in the country. And in 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court declared the “international LGBT social movement” an “extremist organization.”

As Them notes, Roskomnadzor’s press service said that Roblox had, at the request of the agency, previously removed in-game material that “depicted LGBT characters and attributes of the LGBT community” in July, specifically citing the country’s 2023 Supreme Court decision upholding the law.

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But on Wednesday, Roskomnadzor’s press service told reporters that it had restricted access to the platform “over registered facts of massive and repeated dissemination of materials with propaganda and justification of extremist and terrorist activities, calls for committing illegal violent actions and LGBT propaganda,” according to Russian news agency Interfax.

“We respect the local laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and believe Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone,” a spokesperson for the company told Reuters, adding that Roblox has “a deep commitment to safety and we have a robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent harmful content on our platform.”

However, the platform, which allows its 151.5 million average daily users to create games and play games created by others, has faced widespread criticism recently. As Them notes, the platform announced last month that it would implement facial recognition technology to prevent young children from interacting with adults. The move comes in the wake of several lawsuits against Roblox Corporation alleging “systemic predation of minors” on the platform. According to Reuters, Roblox has also been banned in Iraq, Turkey, and other countries over similar concerns.

Roblox is just the latest tech company to be targeted by Russia’s Roskomnadzor for violating its anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In 2022, the Russian government fined Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ content. Following a Roskomnadzor investigation of Duolingo, the language learning app removed LGBTQ+ inclusive content from its Russian version last year. And in May, Russia fined Apple in three separate cases for violating the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law.

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