When play becomes work: the relationship between Roblox Corporation and child labor

Abstract

This article analyzes how the Terms of Use of the Roblox Corporation platform may reflect practices that constitute child labor, especially in the creation and monetization of content developed by children and adolescents. The research is based on documentary analysis, using primary sources—such as Roblox’s own Terms of Use—and secondary sources, such as journalistic reports and academic literature. Methodological triangulation was applied, consisting of correlating and cross-referencing data from from these different sources, seeking to ensure greater robustness in the interpretation of the data and in the construction of the arguments. The study uses analytical categories from Marxism, such as exploitation, alienation, and the distinction between creative labor and alienated labor, to problematize how the platform’s ludic space is, in fact, an environment structured for the extraction of value from child labor, disguised as fun.