[ALittleLight]

Imagine if Roblox didn't give money to the kids. Would that be better? I don't really see how.

For children in the developed world their Roblox earnings are likely non-essential. If they don't want to work on Roblox mods, or whatever they do, then they just won't. Forcing your child to work on Roblox would be straightforward abuse same as any other kind of abuse.

For children in the developing world - perhaps there are some for whom Roblox development is mandatory. But, would that child be better off if we deprived them of Roblox? Wouldn't they just work somewhere else in worse conditions in a career with less of a future?

I don't see why kids earning money from Roblox is bad. The efforts to criticize it strike me as pattern matching. Child labor = children working in coal mines or as chimney sweeps = bad. Kids making Roblox games for fun is child labor therefore kids making Roblox games is bad. Doesn't strike me as a compelling argument.

[Wowfunhappy]

> Imagine if Roblox didn't give money to the kids. Would that be better?

Yes.

> The efforts to criticize it strike me as pattern matching. Child labor = children working in coal mines or as chimney sweeps = bad. Kids making Roblox games for fun is child labor therefore kids making Roblox games is bad.

Only if it really is something the child is doing for fun. In many cases, I don't believe it is. Please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ. I apologize for linking a relatively lengthy video, but this one really shaped how I feel about Roblox.

This is in fact the same basis for why we ban children working as chimney sweeps. I'm sure many children do have fun sweeping chimneys on occasion—I can certainly remember a time when I thought it was fun to wash windows—but add payment to the mix and it generally devolves into something else.

[tasuki]

I don't want to defend child labour too much, I don't know much about the topic.

But is it really so clear that a child not working is somehow a better outcome than a child not being hungry and being able to provide shelter for themselves?

[punyearthling]

I'm in the same boat as you on not knowing much about child labour.

That being said, if a child is doing labour for a company (in this case Roblox, but the same could be said for Instagram, Tiktok, etc.), why is it considered more ethical to NOT pay that child for their work?

I know an argument could be made that adding financial incentives encourage more kids to participate in said child labour, but NOT paying them doesn't dissuade them from doing so.

And how is Roblox's practice different from the creator funds of social media sites that rely on user-generated content to justify their existence? It's all very murky to me.

I think my problem with this model is Roblox taking such a large cut from their workforce, not that they pay them at all.

[sitkack]

You might enjoy this

A 12-Year-Old Sued Roblox and WON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dff7sHUzDww

[rawgabbit]

There is a conflict between the concept that children are not mature enough to make their own decisions, and the concept that children should work. When children are involved, the usual practice is that parents must be involved and must approve of their children "working".

[ALittleLight]

There is also a big difference between "work" and "potentially earn robux through playing Roblox". If you are making your 10 year old sit at a desk all day doing Roblox development - I agree, that's bad, that's child labor, that should be stopped. If your 10 year old has used the Roblox editor suites to create his own game and hopes to earn robux with it - that seems like a fine use of time.

There is a girl in my neighborhood who is constantly making and selling things door to door. I've bought a bracelet, cookies, and slime from her. Is this wrong? She's probably 10-12 years old and, I assume, earning less than minimum wage. Should I call the police? Child protective services? Do we need a law to stop her from doing this?

I would say that it isn't wrong for children to do things like this. It's behavior driven by the child that isn't harmful and might be beneficial. Why should you want to stop that? Same logic applies to Roblox.

[rawgabbit]

You are making an awful lot of assumptions. I said parents typically must approve their child’s activities. I assume the 10 year old girl you mentioned was given the green light by her parents.

[jabroni_salad]

Nobody is complaining about gmod, halo forge, custom minecraft maps, etc.

This entire economy is unnecessary. I love that roblox allows anyone to learn/make/distribute, but the f2p nature of the game makes it slimy in a way that others are not.

[ajmurmann]

So the moral argument comes down to "it's slimy"?

[itishappy]

On some level, don't they all?

[philosopher1234]

I think moral arguments that are good come down to “it is bad in specific, rational ways” not “ick”

[ajmurmann]

No, they should come down as causing or avoiding harm/suffering