Roblox TOS update banning kissing and handholding leaves players baffled

Sam Smith

A Roblox TOS update banning kissing and handholding has left the community bewildered. The ban prohibits public displays of affection and romantic gestures, among new rules.

The Roblox community continues to grow, but as it increases in popularity its terms of service are also becoming longer and more detailed.

The latest changes have been particularly controversial, and somewhat comical, with ‘romantic gestures’, including handholding and kissing, on the ban list.

roblox bans handholding
Roblox is a hugely popular and creative multiplayer experience.

This latest update to Roblox’s terms of service makes some eye-catching changes, with the devs explaining “experiences that depict romantic events, including weddings, dates, and honeymoons” are also banned.

Roblox TOS update: the new rules

The new rules come under “Dating and Romantic Content”, and are aimed at fostering a “safe space for meeting online friends, chatting, and collaborating on creative projects,” – but without any romantic elements.

roblox tos update new rules

The TOS update also makes changes to the game’s intellectual property rules, the latest being “Using Roblox’s name, logo, or other designs both on and off the platform” is also considered a violation.

The powers behind the successful multiplayer game have not yet explained why they’ve made such stringent changes, although a clue may be found on their community standards webpage.

“At Roblox, we’re building the metaverse: a space for people to adventure, experience, and explore. We’re a global community on this journey together, and we want to ensure everyone feels welcome and safe and is treated with kindness and respect.

“That’s why we’ve created these Community Standards. To outline how we expect our users to behave, and to be clear up front about what is and isn’t allowed on Roblox.”

Roblox community responds to new rules

The Roblox community has reacted to the changes with a mixture of outrage and ridicule. Popular Twitch streamer Quackity responded by tweeting, “I’m going to be a menace and break all their dumb rules in a single stream.” Although he has since deleted the tweet.

Roblox bans all romantic gestures Quackity
Quackity has since deleted this response.

Others poked fun at the new rules, calling the idea of banning something as innocent as holding hands “funny” or “ridiculous,” with some even saying they’ll quit the game.

Some Roblox creators have pointed out that the update could harm the game, with some of its most popular game modes unable to survive under the new rules.

It will be interesting to see if the devs respond to the fan backlash or continue on this course.

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About The Author

Sam is a Senior Games Writer for Dexerto specializing in Survival Horror, Diablo, Final Fantasy, and Soulslikes. An NCTJ accredited journalist, Sam also holds a degree in journalism from the University of Central Lancashire and has many years of experience as a professional writer. Being able to marry his love of writing with his addiction to video games was always one of his life goals. He also loves all things PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo in equal measure. Contact at sam.smith@dexerto.com