When real-life protest is surveilled, policed, or out of reach, young people log in and build their own streets.
In a brightly rendered Roblox world, a group of kids marches past a digital detention center. Their avatars carry signs that say things like “Abolish ICE,” “No One Is Illegal,” and “Close the Camps.” Chant loops play in the background. There are cages made from blocky metal fencing and pixelated classroom spaces where teach-ins are held. The entire experience, created by users who are mostly under the age of sixteen, has been visited more than 240,000 times in just a few weeks.¹
This is not satire or a game glitch. It is a protest. And this is not the first time young people have used virtual worlds to organize and express resistance.
Digital protest has a long history
In 2011, during the Arab Spring, youth activists in Egypt and Tunisia faced harsh online censorship. Many social media platforms were blocked or surveilled, and organizing became dangerous. So they turned to video games. Platforms like The Sims, Second Life, and World of Warcraft became tools for protest. Users staged virtual demonstrations, built symbolic spaces, and exchanged political messages through chat functions when other methods of communication were no longer safe.²
One of the most widely documented examples came from Tunisia. Players of The Sims created entire virtual homes decorated with protest signs, flags, and political imagery. These homes were uploaded and shared across game forums. They became miniature exhibitions of rebellion that slipped under the radar of state surveillance.³
Even earlier, in 2008, players of World of Warcraft in China organized a mass funeral march for a fellow gamer who died in the Sichuan earthquake. Thousands of avatars gathered in silence, forming long lines across digital landscapes. The in-game memorial served as both an act of mourning and a subtle form of protest in a country where public displays of grief were often politically charged.⁴
In 2020, Hong Kong activists used Animal Crossing: New Horizons to stage pro-democracy demonstrations after real-life protests were banned under new national security laws. Players transformed their islands into rally spaces, creating posters and messages within the game’s design system.⁵ In the United States, players used the same game to host Black Lives Matter memorials, vigils, and virtual marches. Some even recreated real protest scenes and autonomous zones.⁶
These examples show a clear pattern. When the physical world becomes dangerous, inaccessible, or heavily surveilled, people—especially young people—find new spaces to resist. They do not stop organizing. They adapt their platforms and change the medium.
Roblox becomes a new protest plaza
Roblox is often described as a game, but it is more accurately a user-generated universe. According to data published by the company in late 2022, 45 percent of users are twelve years old or younger. Sixty percent are under sixteen.⁷ That makes Roblox one of the most youth-dense digital ecosystems in existence.
Right now, several Roblox experiences are focused on immigration justice. In one of the most visited examples, players move through virtual ICE detention centers. Some roleplay as immigration lawyers trying to reunite families. Others play as protesters holding signs and staging sit-ins. Some simply explore and learn, walking through a museum-like simulation of immigration policies and abuses.
These protest experiences often mirror current events. Recent ICE raids in cities like Los Angeles and Salt Lake City have sparked renewed organizing. In Utah, an innocent bystander was killed during a protest against ICE enforcement. On TikTok, young people are creating content that explains immigration law and detention center conditions. On Roblox, they are building it.
A spokesperson from Roblox confirmed the existence of these protest experiences. In a statement to CNBC, the company said, “While our Community Standards allow for expressions of solidarity, we do not allow content that promotes violence, hate speech, or support for specific political parties. We monitor our platform closely and act swiftly when violations occur.”⁸
Still, the experiences remain online and continue to evolve. The protest maps are coded by teenagers. The detention centers are often designed with eerie attention to detail. Some experiences even include QR codes that link to real-world mutual aid funds or immigrant rights organizations.
This is not just about digital activism. It is about a generation growing up in a political environment that feels unstable, unjust, and out of their control. These children are not just playing. They are building political consciousness inside the only spaces where they feel powerful. That is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Protest as play and play as protest
Critics often dismiss virtual protest as performative or unserious. But that criticism misses the point. These young people are not trying to replace real-world protest. They are exploring what it means to care about justice in the only spaces they fully control. They are using their tools, their aesthetics, and their language to model the kind of world they want.
This is not new. From The Sims to World of Warcraft to Animal Crossing to Roblox, the history of virtual protest is long and rich. What is new is that we now have ten-year-olds building detention centers in digital spaces so they can tear them down. They are roleplaying resistance because they live in a world that keeps delivering the real thing.
They are not waiting to be told what justice looks like. They are coding it themselves.
Sources
¹ CNBC. “Kids Are Protesting on Roblox in Response to ICE Raids.” 2024.
² Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. “Digital Dissent: Virtual Worlds as Platforms for Political Expression.” 2012.
³ Wired. “Tunisians Protest in The Sims After Facebook Crackdown.” 2011.
⁴ New Media & Society. “Online Mourning and the Politics of Space in Virtual Worlds.” 2009.
⁵ The Guardian. “Hong Kong Protesters Take Their Message to Animal Crossing.” 2020.
⁶ The Verge. “How Animal Crossing Became a Platform for Protest.” May 2020.
⁷ Roblox Investor Relations Report. December 2022.
⁸ CNBC. “Roblox Responds to Political Protest Content on Platform.” 2024.
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