Del juego a la producción de valor: el trabajo infantil en la plataforma Roblox: child labor on the Roblox platform

Rocío Florencia Cabrera; Carla Antonella Cossi; Natalia María Maccari

doi:10.70860/rtg.v14i34.20125

Authors

Rocío Florencia Cabrera INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5040-3395
Carla Antonella Cossi INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3309-2912
Natalia María Maccari INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9450-1464

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70860/rtg.v14i34.20125

Keywords:

Child Labor, Video games, Digital Platforms, Exploitation, Precariousness

Abstract

This article examines the Roblox platform as a virtual space for child labor within the creative economy. In this playful environment aimed at children and adolescents, gaming becomes a productive practice where users create and market virtual experiences, generating economic value. Based on research by Repórter Brasil and the theoretical contributions of various authors, the article examines how Roblox's economic policies and terms of use legitimize child exploitation through discourses of creativity and community. The article problematizes the forms of value extraction that operate beyond wage labor, analyzing the precarity, self-exploitation, and algorithmic opacity that structure the platform. Finally, it proposes addressing the Roblox platform as a driving force within the framework of informational capitalism, where users become a productive force that blurs the lines between play and work.

Author Biographies

Rocío Florencia Cabrera, INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM

Bachelor's thesis student in Social Anthropology and Social Communication at the National University of Misiones, Argentina. Assistant researcher at the Permanent Observatory of Decent Work in the Triple Border Region (Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay) and the Interdisciplinary Research Program on Border Regions (INREFRO).

Carla Antonella Cossi, INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM

PhD in Social Anthropology from the National University of Misiones. Researcher for the "Interdisciplinary Research on Border Regions: States, Sociocultural Systems, and Territories" Program (INREFRO). Coordinator of the Permanent Observatory of Decent Work in the Triple Border Region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Professor and Researcher at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, National University of Misiones, Argentina. Head of the Decent Work Observatory of the Triple Border Region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

Natalia María Maccari, INREFRO-OTRAF-FHyCS-UNaM

Bachelor's thesis student in Social Anthropology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the National University of Misiones. Research assistant at the Permanent Observatory of Decent Work in the Triple Border Region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay (OTRAF) and the Interdisciplinary Research Program on Border Regions (INREFRO).

References

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