Supporters of Palestine show solidarity by marching in the metaverse

DUBAI: Young supporters of the Palestinian cause who cannot show solidarity by taking part in demonstrations in person are instead protesting online using the metaverse gaming platform Roblox. However, the use of certain words and phrases by digital demonstrators has been banned by the platform.

More than 348,000 people have visited (PALESTINE) Dataran Tanjung Mas, a virtual environment created by a Malaysian user, since it went live on Roblox on Oct. 14. Users worldwide can join groups of up to 200 at a time, and videos of activity in the environment, shared on social media, show avatars marching with Palestinian flags in their hands.

Some users said Roblox had banned the use of terms such as “Free Palestine” and “genocide” from the platform, as a result of which users adopted the Palestinian flag as a symbol of protest and solidarity.

“Blocking phrases like ‘Free Palestine’ is consistent with our community standards, where we do not allow political content, particularly with regards to ‘content related to real world border, territorial or jurisdictional relationships,’” a Roblox spokesperson told news website TechCrunch.

“While our community standards allow for expressions of solidarity, we do not allow for content that endorses or condones violence, promotes terrorism or hatred against individuals or groups, or calls for supporting a specific political party.”

Virtual worlds are becoming an increasingly popular way for people to stage demonstrations and protests. In January last year, for example, nonprofit organization Superflus organized a protest against consumerism and capitalism at Samsung’s virtual headquarters within the metaverse platform Decentraland.

In August this year, Wistaverse, which describes itself as the first metaverse platform dedicated to protests and social action, launched a virtual campaign and rally to prevent the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.