Dear Petition Readers, 

The popular video game Roblox, has just banned text, voice, and party chatting for users in the Middle East, despite their age and regardless if they've verified an ID or not. 

Recently, Roblox has been under flame for banning a popular predator catcher for no reason at all. A lot of people found out that Roblox's moderation is extremely flawed, and they don't take enough action against bad actors on their platform. 

Now, they've restricted chatting features for all users in the Middle East, including countries like Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and more. This may be connected to the political issues over there at the moment, but the announcement came out of the blue. Personally, I think it's racism and it shouldn't have happened in the first place. 

Roblox, for many people, is one of the only ways people can talk with their friends, especially outside of school, or when they've moved away. Many users across X (formerly Twitter) are expressing frustration and sharing screenshots from Middle Eastern countries, showing that their chat access has been fully restricted. 

Yes, there are lots of flaws with safety on the platform, and there are many people who are bad actors and try to do vile things to children--but the Middle East is not the problem. There are other countries that have these issues--such as the United States--that chatting isn't restricted in. India is also the most populous country in the world--there's no doubt that there are bad actors there. 

Plus, Roblox could just hire more moderators, get a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Safety Officer (CSO), improve their AI moderation, and only the bad people would be banned. This is what lawyers, politicians, and highly respected individuals are trying to do in the first place. 

If you think this should be solved, and that Middle Easterners should be able to chat again, sign the petition today.