Hundreds of schoolkids have joined in an online protest against Israel on the popular kids gaming platform Roblox, where they were able to march avatars down a street to attend a rally waving Palestinian flags.
In the footage, children represented by their avatars are made to stand among a crowd of others chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
Roblox is a popular gaming platform specifically aimed at children that has come under fire for its exploitative practices involving children and micro-transactions that persuade kids to pay small amounts to gain advantages when playing.
Games like ‘Adopt Me’ which is one of the most popular on the platform have attracted billions of visits and are played by schoolchildren spending micro-payments that generate tens of millions for the company.
Approximately 200 players visited a virtual protest rally on the Roblox gaming platform and logged into the protest as a sign of solidarity with Palestine.
The demonstration was organised by a Malaysian game streamer, who goes under the handle ‘Teacher Zyd’, on Roblox and was later live-streamed on his TikTok account.
Zyd said during the live stream: “There were 200 players on Roblox who participated in this event, and about 1,300 people also watched it live on TikTok.”
Not only did it receive a positive response from children in Malaysia, but the demonstration also went viral and was joined by players from outside the country.
All the animated characters in the game were seen waving the Palestinian and Malaysian flags in the gaming server as a protest against the war between Israel and Palestine.
At the same time, Zyd led a prayer recitation for protection from harm and chanted ‘Long live, long live. Long live Palestine!’ during his live broadcast on TikTok.
Zyd claimed that many participants in this event were schoolchildren.
However, many parents, he said, also showed support and joined the gathering event.
Zyd said during the broadcast: “Tell the kids to go to school first; they can join after school.”
Many X users seemed to support the Roblox protests. One said that Roblox users are “doing more for Palestine than politicians.”
“Watching kids hold their own little Palestine solidarity rally on Roblox made me happy,” ‘Blackredgaurd1’ tweeted.
CEN contacted Roblox for comment but had not received a reply before filing this report.
