With the current chaotic climate in the world today, many players dive into video games to escape the real world and make their ideal life in a virtual reality. However, some hackers are taking advantage of this heightened activity on games to spread their political agenda, specifically on Roblox.
The US is in a time of political upheaval and divide. With tensions building around race, police brutality, and the coronavirus response, the country is more at odds against itself, and with the 2020 election closing in, many citizens want to steer the country in specific directions. However, some people are taking their political views into the video game Roblox to push this agenda.
Many Roblox players have logged onto their accounts to find that they've been hacked but not in the usual ways that one would expect. When these players start up the game, they find that the hackers have changed their avatars. Instead of wearing what the player had dressed their character as, the avatars were outfitted in a shirt prominently displaying an American flag and an eagle on the front. Along with the shirt, characters were also wearing a red baseball hat with white text, very similar to the MAGA hats that supporters of President Donald Trump are associated with.
Hackers have not only changed the avatar's clothing, but players have also found that the hackers have accessed their friend lists. When doing so, the hackers messaged all of the player's friends, telling them to ask their parents to vote for President Trump followed with "#MAGA2020." One user even testified that a hacker accepted all of their outstanding friend requests in order to message more people. Since accounts are indexed by Google, it's been proven that over 1,700 profiles currently display the hacked message.
Many games try to stay out of politics, and when they do get political, the conversation is centered on social policies, not specific candidates. Video game companies have been supporting movements like Black Lives Matter, and while some aspects (like what is allowed in the chat of Roblox) slightly favor the right of the political spectrum, Trump supporters should take other avenues than hacking to spread their political propaganda.