Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) has decided to officially block the online gaming platform Roblox in Egypt, citing concerns over risks to children and adolescents, SCMR Vice Chairman Essam El-Amir announced .
El-Amir said the decision is being coordinated with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to ensure its implementation.
His remarks came during a session of the Senate, chaired by Counselor Essam Farid, which discussed several motions on the dangers posed by the internet and social media platforms to children.
The move follows a proposal submitted days earlier by Senator Walaa Hermas Radwan, calling for the regulation of the electronic gaming platform Roblox to protect children’s moral and educational values, limit associated psychological and behavioural risks, and organize the operation of electronic gaming platforms more broadly.
The Senate’s Committee on Education, Scientific Research, Communications, and Information Technology discussed the proposal in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, as part of efforts to safeguard minors from inappropriate online content.
During the meeting, the senator who submitted the proposal presented an explanatory memorandum and a research annex outlining the nature of the platform and documenting the risks and negative impacts linked to its use.
These include exposure to content deemed unsuitable for children, direct communication with strangers, and potential psychological and behavioural effects on young users.
Roblox is a US-based online gaming and creation platform launched in 2006 by founders David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, where users can both play and design their own games or “experiences” using the platform’s tools and its scripting language, Luau.
Unlike a traditional single game, Roblox functions as a user-generated metaverse, with millions of games and social spaces available across devices like PC, mobile, and consoles, and it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
Egypt would not be alone in taking action against the gaming platform Roblox, as several countries have previously moved to block, restrict, or regulate the platform over child-safety and content concerns.
Iraq and Algeria have imposed nationwide bans citing risks related to inappropriate content, online harassment, and exposure of minors to strangers, while access to Roblox is blocked in China under broader internet censorship regulations.
Turkey has also temporarily banned the platform pending stricter compliance with local content rules, and a number of Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have imposed limitations on features such as in-game chat and content moderation rather than a full ban.
These measures have generally been justified on grounds of protecting children and adolescents from psychological, behavioural, and moral risks associated with online gaming platforms.
As of late 2025/early 2026, Roblox maintains roughly 80 million Daily Active Users (DAU) worldwide, where 40 percent of users are over 17 years old; the “core” users are 9–15 years old
According to market intelligence platforms like Statista, Egypt consistently ranks as one of the top three markets for Roblox in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to downloads, due to its large youth population with an average age estimated between 10 and 16 years old.
