In the Lego-like world of Roblox, about a hundred blocky avatars march through a lamplit street, wielding Palestine flags that are larger than their own animated bodies.

Characters dressed like cartoonish dinosaurs, steampunk zombies and pastel pink pop stars chant together via instant messages in both Malay and English as they arrive at a stage, where leaders of the Roblox server stand together to dictate when the next march around the pixelated streets will begin.

But in times of crisis, the game can serve as an outlet for young people to safely engage in political activity and learn about world events.

“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,” a Roblox spokesperson said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch.

“We have an expert team of thousands of moderators along with automated detection tools in place to monitor our platform and will take swift action against any content or individuals found to be in violation of our standards.”

From a content moderation perspective, these virtual political protests may raise alarm bells; even in real life, demonstrations of solidarity have the potential to be marred by calls for violence.

Saved 77% of original text.