Nazi concentration camps recreated in popular children’s online game 

A popular children’s online game drew attention recently after it was discovered that some of its users had recreated Nazi concentration camps.

Roblox is a computer game where users can create, and interact with, virtual worlds. It has been discovered that users were able to interact with a virtual Nazi concentration camp where they were able to click “execute” to then release deadly gas from showerheads.

There was also reportedly a railroad built in order to simulate the entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Tanya Carter, of the Safe Schools Alliance campaign group, a grassroots organisation that campaigns to uphold child safeguarding in schools, said: “We are horrified to hear of Nazi rooms featuring dead bodies and gas chambers…This is particularly disturbing in a climate of rising antisemitism.”

In a statement, Roblox said: “We have zero tolerance for content or behaviours that promote or glorify extremism, including antisemitism.

“We have removed the experiences in question and permanently banned the individuals who created them from our platform. We work tirelessly to maintain a platform that is safe, civil and inclusive, and we use a combination of manual and automated detection tools to swiftly remove experiences that do not comply with our Community Standards.

“We are committed to preventing this type of content from being uploaded to our platform, remove it as soon as we learn about it, and take appropriate steps against those who have uploaded the content.

“In tandem with our efforts, we encourage anyone to report content or behaviour that may promote extremism using our Report Abuse feature, and we have a dedicated team of thousands who act on those reports.”

It was also reported in September that Roblox, in addition to other online games including Call of Duty and Minecraft, was being used as a means of spreading antisemitism. 

Roblox spokespeople condemned the news at the time, stating: “We work relentlessly to ensure our platform remains a safe and civil space, and with a combination of machine learning and a team of over 2,000 moderators, we monitor for safety 24-7 to detect and swiftly act on any inappropriate content or behaviour.”