When online games turn dark: The criminological reality behind child violence

Recent reports of juveniles committing crimes have alarmed parents and professionals alike. In Batu Pahat, Johor, a nine-year-old boy reportedly attacked his younger sibling, with police investigating whether the popular online game Roblox influenced his actions.

This incident comes amid rising global concern about the darker sides of online gaming.

A report by the UK’s The Guardian in April highlighted serious risks children face on Roblox, while in Australia, authorities uncovered online networks targeting young girls to coerce them into violent acts. These cases point to an uncomfortable truth: unsupervised access to interactive online games by young children can erode empathy, normalise violence, and blur the line between fantasy and reality. While not every child becomes violent, risks increase without supervision, digital literacy, or platform safeguards.

Unlike traditional video games, platforms like Roblox, Call of Duty, Mobile Legends, Honour of Kings and PUBG Mobile are immersive social ecosystems. Children do more than play—they compete, create, and interact in worlds that mirror or distort reality. These environments thrive on three features with criminological implications.

First is immersion and interactivity. Players gain autonomy and empowerment, acting, building, destroying, and communicating instantly. Reward systems such as points, virtual currency, levels, and social recognition reinforce engagement, sometimes blurring the line between play and obsession. Young children may lack the moral reasoning to process these experiences, which can condition impulsive or aggressive behaviour.

Second is user-generated content and weak moderation. Platforms relying on user-created experiences expose children to violent, sexual, or predatory content disguised as games. Investigations by The Guardian revealed lapses in moderation, allowing inappropriate and exploitative material to circulate despite child-safety policies.

Third is peer influence and the gamification of harm. Social games allow strangers, influencers, or organised groups to communicate directly with minors, turning harmful acts into challenges that provide social or virtual rewards. Australian authorities report “crime-influencers” manipulating adolescents into violent or degrading acts for notoriety.

From a criminological perspective, the link between online games and violent behaviour in minors can be explained by established theories. Social Learning Theory suggests children imitate observed behaviours, particularly when violence is rewarded. Routine Activity Theory argues crime occurs when a motivated individual encounters a suitable target without guardianship – unsupervised gaming creates this opportunity. Desensitisation and moral disengagement explain how repeated exposure to virtual violence dulls empathy, sometimes spilling into real-world actions. Subcultural and status dynamics account for online “gangs” and coercive communities, where violence may confer belonging or recognition.

Not all children are equally vulnerable. Very young children, those with self-esteem issues, prior trauma, or lacking parental guidance are at greater risk. Exposure to toxic online groups compounds this vulnerability, making unsupervised, immersive gameplay particularly dangerous.

Solutions require shared responsibility. Parents must co-play, set boundaries, and discuss in-game behaviour, placing devices in shared areas and managing accounts responsibly. Game developers should implement stronger age verification, invest in human moderation, redesign reward systems, and ensure transparency. Schools can teach digital resilience, critical evaluation, and digital ethics. Law enforcement must collaborate with child-protection agencies and gaming companies to dismantle predatory networks, as seen in Australia’s dedicated online harm taskforces. Evidence-based policies are preferable to reactive bans.

Games do not inherently cause violence. Millions of children play without harm. But when online spaces are unmoderated, supervision is absent, and virtual worlds dominate a child’s social reality, behavioural spillover is real. The Malaysian case is a wake-up call for parents, educators, and policymakers. Children today grow up forming moral lessons, peer validation, and identity increasingly online.

The challenge is not to demonise technology, but to humanise it through responsible design, education, and oversight. Protecting children from digital harm requires presence, awareness, and collective accountability. Adults must ensure the line between virtual and real violence is never crossed.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.