How Roblox Exploits Children w/ Quintin Smith
01 06 22
or listen on:
How Roblox Exploits Children
Quintin Smith
Notes
Paris Marx is joined by Quintin Smith to discuss how Roblox profits from the labor of children, built an exploitative in-game economy, and needs to be regulated as soon as possible.
Guest
Quintin Smith is a journalist working with People Make Games and Shut Up & Sit Down. Follow Quintin on Twitter at @Quinns108.
Support the show
Venture capitalists aren’t funding critical analysis of the tech industry — that’s why the show relies on listener support.
Become a supporter on Patreon to ensure the show can keep promoting critical tech perspectives. That will also get you access to the Discord chat, a shoutout on the show, some stickers, and more!
Links
- Quintin did an investigation of Roblox for People Make Games. Watch part 1 and part 2.
- Roblox went public on March 9, 2021, hitting a valuation of $45 billion. It’s now over $50 billion and benefiting from the metaverse hype.
- More than half of US kids and teens under 16 are on Roblox. It’s estimated that half the platform’s users globally are under 13 years old.
- Cecilia D’Anastasio reported on fascist role-playing games in Roblox.
- Games featuring sex and nudity are not always caught by Roblox, exposing kids to them.