Amid rising talk of a ban by the Malaysian government, popular online game Roblox has pledged to improve safety through AI and human monitoring. Additionally, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh stated that the company is willing to work with the Malaysian government, especially regarding data sharing and regulatory compliance.
The minister herself confirmed this information in a Facebook post. In it, she expressed her concern about how online games can affect children’s behaviour and emotions.
She also added that there are over 100 million users globally, one million of whom are in Malaysia. “With such a reach, we must take the responsibility of protecting young users seriously,” Hannah said. She then concluded her post by saying that, “We want a digital world that is not only fun but also builds the right character and values for the future generations.”
This action likely relates to the recent slashing in Batu Pahat, where a nine-year-old boy severely injured his six-year-old brother. The police said the older brother may have attacked the six-year-old after his Roblox game was interrupted, causing him to lose all his points.
Not too long ago, the Communication Ministry was considering requiring at least 10 online games to obtain licences in Malaysia — this includes Roblox. The action is a part of its attempts to improve regulation of the online gaming industry, especially to protect kids from inappropriate behaviour and content. This is on top of Roblox’s own security measure back in August.
Circling back to Hannah’s post, unfortunately, she did not specify what sort of AI and human monitoring technology Roblox would implement to improve safety in the game. She also did not elaborate on which specific data the company will share with the government. Perhaps we will learn more details about it in the future.
