Roblox is removing user-made games re-enacting the assassination of Charlie Kirk. A senior company official cited the existing platform policy as the main reason for the decision, positing that Roblox is no place for promoting hate against any individual or group.
Charlie Kirk is a polarizing political pundit who was assassinated during a speech at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10. The following day, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) Said that she was notified of a user-made Roblox game "referencing the assassination." She threatened to pressure Apple to delist the entire app, as well as urge the FCC to take down its website if the company didn’t momentarily remove the offending content.
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Roblox Confirms Crackdown on Charlie Kirk Games
Luna's next update arrived within an hour, in the early afternoon (ET) on September 11, when she said the platform confirmed it's working on pulling all user-generated experiences featuring the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Roblox Corporation founder and CEO, David Baszucki, confirmed as much in a subsequent statement. He highlighted that Roblox Community Standards explicitly forbid content re-enacting violent or otherwise sensitive events, or promoting hatred against any person or group.
Over 100 Roblox Experiences Featuring Charlie Kirk Assassination Were Pulled Already
Baszucki called himself "saddened" by Kirk's passing, and urged users to report any games that they suspect violates the platform's policies, promising that the moderation division is acting swiftly on this matter. Illustrating the scope of its efforts, a company spokesperson told Axios that more than 100 user-created experiences featuring the Charlie Kirk shooting were already pulled from the platform as of September 11, within 24 hours of the event. While it's unclear to what degree they incorporated the assassination, the mere act of referencing it could be construed as a violation of the Roblox Community Standards, which declare a zero-tolerance policy for real-life violence-inciting, -supporting, or -glorifying content.
Roblox's ongoing crackdown on the Charlie Kirk assassination game trend is a mix of automated scanning and human moderation, both supported by user reports, a company spokesperson said. The takedowns arrive amid broader efforts by major platforms to limit graphic footage tied to the shooting, some of which previously went viral on social media.
On September 12, authorities identified one Tyler Robinson as the suspect in the assassination, after he had already been apprehended following a tip. The 22-year-old had no prior violent offenses or convictions. Utah governor Spencer Cox recently suggested the Charlie Kirk assassin engraved a Helldivers 2 stratagem code on at least one of his bullet casings. Several others allegedly featured messages like "Hey fascist, catch!" And the most recognizable part of the chorus of Bella Ciao, an anti-Nazi folk song associated with Italian partisans during World War 2.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- September 1, 2006
- ESRB
- Teen / Diverse Content: Discretion Advised, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Roblox Corporation
- Publisher(s)
- Roblox Corporation
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Game Creation System
