A mother shared her son’s experience on an online gaming platform, revealing an alleged scheme that tricked him into believing he could “level up” in the game.
Facebook user Shiela Nanquil, a Filipina based in Dubai, shared her son, Ezequiel Shankz, was asked by another Roblox player to remove his clothes and jump so he could supposedly advance to the next stage of the game.
In a video with her son, Shiela said he removed his shorts after being told to do so by a player identified as “James 489.”
According to her son, he was told he would receive a “trophy” and be able to move to the “next stage.”
The video then showed Ezequiel crying as Shiela asked if he had been “scared,” to which he replied yes.
“Buti ‘yun pa lang pinapagawa sa’yo, anak,” the mother said.
Shiela said she has since deleted Roblox following the incident.
“Deleted na ang Roblox ni Shankz. Just want to share this for Roblox awareness po,” she wrote on Facebook on Saturday, June 27.
Shiela’s post has earned 4.8 million views, 35,000 reactions, 35,000 shares and 5,800 comments on Facebook.
In the comments section, she said that “James 489” was able to interact with her son through the game’s chat feature.
“Nag-cha-chat po sa kanya ‘yung James, meron daw parang group din na need gawin ‘yung mga task para makasali daw sa mga next stage po,” Shiela told a Facebook user.
Roblox users under 13 years old have their text chats heavily filtered, and some communication features may be limited or unavailable. Parents can also restrict or disable chat through parental controls.
Some Facebook users commented that the Shiela’s son’s account might not have been “age-appropriate,” which they suggested could have contributed to the incident.
Another Facebook user shared that their eight-year-old child’s Roblox account has its chat feature “disabled,” adding that the game includes parental controls.
“‘Yung anak ko 8 years old pero disabled ang chat box niya. Kung may mag-invite man sa kanya, may notification or email akong matatanggap kaya talagang monitored ko account niya,” the Facebook user wrote.
“Roblox is a safe game for any kids, basta may guidance ng parents. Kahit naman paglaruin niyo mga anak niyo sa kalye at kung hindi niyo babantayan, may makaka-encounter pa rin silang masasamang tao or bad influence,” the Facebook user added.
Roblox is an online game platform and game creation system where users can create or play games they or other users have made.
The platform was previously scrutinized after the Philippine National Police, in February, foiled a planned mass shooting in Laguna by a group of students manipulated and influenced by entities within the game.
Roblox has since vowed to strengthen its monitoring, reporting mechanisms and age-appropriate content controls following a meeting with Philippine officials.
The Tacloban shooting
Meanwhile, Shiela’s video, which raised awareness about her child’s experience on the gaming platform, comes days after a minor suspect in the Tacloban City school shooting was reportedly found to be an avid player of GoreBox, a sandbox video game.
Authorities have since imposed a temporary ban on the game, saying that they “cannot ignore possible online influences that may have contributed to this tragic incident.”
“Temporarily blocking the game will allow authorities to conduct a thorough assessment and determine whether the platform played any role in the actions of the suspects,” Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) earlier said.
The developer of GoreBox has declined to attend a Senate hearing to be conducted in connection with the shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, allegedly perpetrated by a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old.
However, an email from GoreBox developer Felix Filip said the game is “classified 18+ and is not intended for, or directed at minors.”
GoreBox is described as a “chaotic physics-driven sandbox where creativity meets destruction.”
It has been given an R18+ rating by the International Age Rating Coalition due to depictions of extreme violence, including blood and dismemberment, although it can be toned down in its Android version.
