Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
It is unknown how long, the game was accessible, but all players could gain access.
July 22, 2011 was the day that Norway changed forever.
A terrorist attack by a rightwing extremist saw bombs go off in the capital of Oslo, killing eight, but what made the terrorist attack a fullblown masacre happened later the same day on the island of Utøya.
The island was hosting the annual summer camp for the Norwegian Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylkning (AUF), a left leaning youth orgainsation, and 600 young people was gathered on the island.
The terrorist, Anders Breivik, disguised himself as a police officer, took the ferry to the island and opened fire.
After setting foot on the island, he killed 69 young people in less than an hour.
77 people died on that day.
But now, the tragedy has reemerged in the news – this time in the form of a video game for children.
A popular children’s game
According to Norwegian outlet, VG, A user-created game referencing the terrorist attack was briefly available on the global gaming platform, Roblox, popular with children.
It was taken down after a child safety group alerted the company.
The game, titled “Utøya! (norwegian back story)” with the subtitle “murderer on norwegian island,” recreated elements resembling the 2011 terror attack.
Players moved through a wooded island landscape while being pursued by a character dressed as a police officer who shot at them.
It remained accessible until week seven, when it was removed following contact between Roblox and the Norwegian chidrlen’s watchdog, Barnevakten.
Reported and removed
Barnevakten first tried to flag the game through Roblox’s internal reporting system, but said it stayed online for several days. After reaching out directly to a company representative, the game was deleted within minutes.
“What makes this particularly serious is that it recreates a violent act that actually happened in real life. It violates several of Roblox’s terms. You are not allowed to create games based on terrorism, violent extremism, or sensitive events, said Kjellaug Tonheim Tønnesen, head of professional development at Barnevakten,” speaking to VG.
In a statement to VG, Roblox said it deploys safety investigators, artificial intelligence tools and thousands of human moderators to detect rule violations. The company added:
“Although no systems are perfect, we collaborate with leading civil society organizations – including the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism – as well as police and law enforcement authorities to stay updated on developments in the threat landscape and use this insight to continuously improve our systems. We also encourage our users to use the ‘Report Abuse’ tools to notify us of prohibited content, and we work every day to further strengthen our safety systems.”
Platform under scrutiny
Roblox, launched in 2006, reports more than 85 million daily active users. The service allows users to design and publish their own games, interact with others and earn money through virtual currency.
The platform has faced criticism in the past over violent material, scams and risks of inappropriate contact. Tønnesen noted that similar games tied to real-world events have previously been removed.
Sources: VG
