Malaysian teens’ pro-Palestinian rally on Roblox goes viral amid censorship concerns: ‘things are changing’
- The online rally drew mostly youngsters, with users’ avatars congregating on a virtual field while holding Malaysian and Palestinian flags
- Many thanked the rally organiser for giving them a space to show their support, as online platforms show signs of cracking down on pro-Palestinian content
A virtual pro-Palestinian rally by Malaysian youngsters on online gaming platform Roblox has gone viral, as increasing censorship of content supporting the Palestinian cause sparks concern among the public and government.
Clips of the Roblox gameplay, shared across social media platforms – particularly TikTok – showed users’ avatars congregating on a virtual field while holding the Palestinian and Malaysian flags.
Most of the participants appeared to be Malaysian youngsters, with people from as far as the Middle East, Europe and United States tuning into the unique show of solidarity from Southeast Asia as Gaza endures a third week of bombardment by Israeli forces.
“Things are changing when kids are protesting on Roblox,” said Nuha, an Egyptian-American TikTok content creator who has more than 1 million followers on the platform.
The two-hour virtual rally – streamed live on TikTok – is the first in Malaysia since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians.
The Gaza health ministry said on Thursday at least 7,028 people had been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes since the war began, including some 2,913 children and 1,709 women.
Roblox, a US-based company, is popular among younger Malaysians for its game creation system that allows users to program and play games created by other users.
The online rally was organised by user Cikgu Zyd (Teacher Zyd), a motivational speaker and gaming streamer who creates content for the Malaysian market on Roblox.
It went viral hours after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim led the largest in-person gathering so far at a Kuala Lumpur stadium late on Tuesday. More than 20,000 people cheered as Anwar denounced Israel’s actions against Gaza, and slammed the United States, Britain and Europe for allowing Israel to continue its military operations.
Malaysia has long supported calls for a Palestinian state and also backs Hamas, whose leaders have frequently been invited to the Southeast Asian country.
Tuesday’s in-person rally was the fourth since the October 7 attack, with one more planned for the week.
With Kuala Lumpur the focus of Malaysia’s increasingly angry rallies, many thanked Cikgu Zyd for allowing Malaysians elsewhere a space to show their support for an end to the Israeli military actions on Gaza.
“I can’t go to Kuala Lumpur, but this is a close second,” said a user who joined the virtual rally, which is made up of a number of sessions on Roblox due to the platform’s 200-user limit per session.
As a result, Cikgu Zyd has promised parents to stream more evening sessions to allow children to take part after school. Only Roblox users are able to join the rally, but organisers can stream the session live on other social media platforms to increase viewership.
TikTok users who watched the rally commended those who took part. User Annalyn Buena Kumal was full of praise, saying, “Kudos to these children! At their young age, they already know what humanity really is.”
Another user, Muhammad Syafiq, said his young son found out about the rally from playing on Roblox. “My eight-year-old son joined the online rally … I am very proud of him,” he said.
Malaysia’s peaceful assembly law prohibits any person below the age of 15 from taking part in rallies, although some parents have previously taken their children to pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
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Malaysia’s leader condemns Israel over Gaza strikes as thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally
Amid the positive social media reaction, there is also concern about growing rumblings of takedowns and “shadowbanning” – a moderation tool that suppresses certain material from being visible to users – of content on mainstream platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
An Al Jazeera report on Tuesday said Instagram users whose posts mentioned Palestinian territories were taken down for violating “community guidelines”. Other users said their Instagram Stories were hidden for sharing information about pro-Palestinian protests in the US.
In a TikTok video on October 14, Cikgu Zyd said Palestinian content on the platform appeared to have been filtered.
“I’m not sure why that happened, but if you see whatever video about Palestine, please help by pressing like, share, to help that video spread,” he said.
Comments to his videos have suggested that they be tagged using misspelt words instead, such as “Falestine” instead of “Palestine” to circumvent any content moderation by the platform.
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Malaysia’s Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil on Thursday revealed that there was evidence TikTok had systematically taken down or removed Malaysian content related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
“I am so mad at TikTok now and we have sent a message to make them understand,” he said.
Some have also questioned whether the virtual rally breached the law as it involved children.
“What is not OK in ‘meatspace’, is OK in cyberspace or the metaverse?” X user Collin Charles said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
