Roblox has become one of the most popular video games of all time, but it has a darker side, with racism and hate speech reportedly spreading unchecked. Roblox's online platform enables users to interact with one another while creating various games, and this has allowed Roblox's 111 million daily users, many of whom are children, to be exposed to hate, according to a series of investigations. 

What kind of hate speech is on Roblox?
While Roblox claims it moderates against hate speech, it "currently has at least 18 active lawsuits pending nationwide due to inappropriate content," attorney Matthew Dolman, whose firm is representing people suing Roblox, said to CBS News. There are millions of different games, and "hate can run rampant." 

In the popular Roblox game Spray Paint!, users can "bypass moderation by spray painting hate messages across walls, ramps and other virtual game settings," said CBS. There were "dozens of swastikas and at least a dozen instances of hate speech targeting minority groups across Spray Paint! servers," and they can often be hard to avoid. 

Investigations have also found "white supremacist virtual clothing being monetized on the platform," said the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. This includes "direct references to transnational neo-Nazi networks such as the Active Club Movement, mass deportation operations conducted by ICE in the United States, and white nationalist political parties abroad such as the National Party in Ireland." And these items are available to kids under 13.

What else is happening on the site?
At least one prominent group has "gained notoriety for creating Roblox maps that replicate real-life mass shootings, including the infamous tragedies at Columbine, Uvalde and Parkland," said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Other maps also reproduce "mass shootings conducted by white supremacists and other extremists as terrorist attacks."

These maps are "disturbingly graphic and detailed, designed to mimic the mass shootings they are based on with unsettling accuracy and gore," said the ADL. In the Uvalde map, for example, students are "programmed to hide under desks or play dead when the shooting begins." 

Roblox has denied any allegations of wrongdoing. The company's "24/7 moderation system closely monitors the platform," Roblox said to CBS. It will take "swift action against any content or users found to be in violation."

President Donald Trump has promised to step in and "save" the Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai, who's facing life in prison for his vocal opposition to the Chinese regime. The 77-year-old founder of the pro-democracy paper Apple Daily has been in a maximum-security prison since December 2020, mainly in solitary confinement. And he's now on trial again, accused of two counts of colluding with foreign forces and a separate sedition charge. 

'Inertia' on Lai's behalf
Lai is "in poor health, and the risk of his dying in prison" is real, said Jodie Ginsberg at The Independent. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be after the U.K. passed Hong Kong back to China in 1997," said The Economist. China "promised to preserve freedoms" and allow Hong Kong to "keep a common-law legal system, which set the bar high for putting dissenters in jail." But a new National Security Law in 2020 "transformed the legal landscape," creating "sweeping, fuzzy categories of crime that Hong Kong had not known before, such as secession, subversion and the collusion of which Mr. Lai is now accused." 

Testing Trump's resolve
The U.K. needs to signal that "any normalization of the relationship with China must be conditional" on Lai's immediate release and return to the U.K., said Ginsberg. And then there's Trump's apparent willingness to fight in Lai's corner. In a recent interview on Fox News Radio, the president said he was "going to do everything I can to save him." A guilty verdict, expected to be handed down in the next few weeks, will "test Trump's resolve to make good on his pledge," said CNN, while he's also "trying to clinch a trade deal" with Xi Jinping.

A protester waves an Indonesian flag during clashes with riot control police in Jakarta. There have been demonstrations all week in the capital and other major cities over a lack of jobs, rising living costs, and perks for MPs, and outrage intensified after a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver was killed by a police car during a protest last night.
Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images

There are two sides to Japan. Travelers marvel at its advanced technology and infrastructure, often saying the country is "living in the future," but Japan is also a place bound by tradition and formalities. Experience it all by traveling to both major cities and visiting spots with a slower pace. And you can stay at these hotels along the way. 

Asaba Ryokan, Shuzenji
For more than five centuries, the Asaba family has welcomed guests to its ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Service here is rooted in the concept of omotenashi, or the "spirit of selfless hospitality," said The Japan Times. All rooms have hot spring baths, sliding doors made of wood and washi paper, and tatami mat floors, with 10-course kaiseki dinners served every evening. 

Halekulani Okinawa
Live like a local at the serene Halekulani Okinawa. It starts at breakfast, when guests enjoy soba noodles and Okinawan pork sausage. From there, become immersed in cultural activities, including a guided meditative experience through Yambaru National Park and kayaking on Lake Fukugami. Okinawa is a Blue Zone, meaning residents on average live longer, and the hotel offers wellness-focused retreats exploring longevity. 

Roku Kyoto
Roku Kyoto (pictured above) sits on the site of a former artists' colony established by celebrated artist Hon'ami Koetsu and pays homage to the past by ensuring its rooms and public spaces are "graced with traditional Japanese artworks and crafts," said The Points Guy. Guests can also get creative themselves, participating in workshops on how to make porcelain and the art of the tea ceremony.