CAIRO: Egypt’s top media regulator blocked access on Wednesday to the US-owned gaming platform Roblox over child safety concerns, joining several other governments that have moved to restrict the popular app.
Roblox has been banned by countries including Qatar, Iraq and Turkiye, and US states such as Texas and Louisiana have filed lawsuits citing similar risks.
Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation announced the ban soon after several senators called for tighter controls on the platform, arguing that it contained inappropriate, violent and otherwise unsuitable content for children.
Senator Walaa Hermes warned that excessive use of Roblox could expose children to “anxiety, bullying, online harassment, incitement to violence and other financial and behavioral risks.”
The move follows President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s call last month for new legislation aimed at protecting children from the risks of early smartphone use, though he did not specify an age limit.
In a statement shared with AFP, a Roblox spokesperson said the company had reached out to Egyptian authorities “with the offer of dialogue to try and resolve this matter and promptly restore access,” adding that user safety “is a top priority at Roblox.”
The platform, developed by California-based Roblox Corporation, allows users to create and share their own games.
Around 100 million people use Roblox daily, with under-13s accounting for around 40 percent of its 2024 users, according to the company.
The Roblox Corporation says it moderates all content through human review and artificial intelligence tools, including to remove “exploitative content.”
Egypt blocks popular game-creator Roblox over child safety concerns
https://arab.news/p6pb4
Egypt blocks popular game-creator Roblox over child safety concerns
- Roblox has been banned by countries including Qatar, Iraq and Turkiye, and US states such as Texas and Louisiana have filed lawsuits citing similar risks
US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan
WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.
“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.
“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.
“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.
The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others. This follows an attack earlier this week in Blue Nile state that injured a @WFP staff member.…
— U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs (@US_SrAdvisorAF) February 6, 2026
Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.
The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.
The Sudan Doctors Network said the convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital, Anadolu Agency reported.
The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.
There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.
Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.
The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
