In a disturbing and escalating pattern of abuse, Egyptian authorities are arresting and detaining minors under trumped-up accusations of “membership in a terrorist group”. These charges rest entirely on the children’s online activity, particularly their use of gaming platforms such as PUBG: Battlegrounds, a multiplayer game launched in 2017. Essentially, in-game rewards are promised to minors in exchange for joining online chat groups or sharing political content that authorities later label as “extremist”.
At least 15 children, all between the ages of 12 and 17, have been taken from their homes without warrants, often during night raids, and forcibly disappeared for days or even months. When they eventually reappear in police custody, their pretrial detention is extended without judicial review. These practices constitute a clear violation of international law, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Most are being held in adult detention facilities, contravening Article 112 of Egypt’s Child Law, which expressly prohibits detaining minors alongside adults. According to their lawyers, authorities have presented no evidence whatsoever to substantiate the terrorism allegations.
These cases become even more alarming in light of the account of human rights lawyer Sara Mohamed, who describes how State Security agents and their affiliated informants are not just surveilling children’s online activity but deliberately entrapping them to build fabricated terrorism cases. In several instances, children who tried to distance themselves by blocking suspicious accounts out of fear were still arrested, forcibly disappeared, and in some cases interrogated under torture.
This reveals a deeply troubling system in which online platforms are being weaponised as state surveillance traps, marking a new form of digital repression targeting the most vulnerable: children. Gaming platforms, with their youth-dominated user base and frequent player interactions, provide authorities with an environment that is easily manipulated and subject to state misuse. Adult detainees who encountered these children in custody told rights groups that the children had no political awareness or affiliation and barely understood what was happening. By treating these cases as political or security matters, Egyptian authorities are setting a dangerous precedent, stretching the reach of counterterrorism laws to turn children’s digital activity into criminal allegations.
The Gaming Industry’s Complicity: How does this Relate to the Gulf?
The rapid growth of online gaming and esports across the MENA region, notably in the Gulf, has opened a new avenue for repressive states to appeal to a new generation of young gaming fans. In Saudi Arabia, the esports market has become a central part of Vision 2030 and a key instrument for sportswashing, in efforts to rehabilitate the country’s international reputation. Yet this polished image stands in contrast to the country’s ongoing digital repressive practices. Saudi Arabia continues to arrest minors for online activity, with children facing terrorism charges for peaceful digital expression. This mirrors the pattern seen in Egypt and points to a dangerous regional trend of treating the youth’s digital behaviour as a national security threat.
In this context, companies such as PUBG, Riot games, and other esports industry actors cannot ignore how their platforms are being weaponised by governments to facilitate gross human rights abuses against children as young as 12. Many of these companies operate with weak safeguards, inadequate reporting mechanisms, and no clear protocols for responding to state misuse, thus directly facilitating these practices. By accepting state-backed sponsorships and expanding operations in countries widely known for their repressive practices, these companies become equally responsible and complicit in children’s rights violations.
Digital safety for children is a fundamental responsibility that should be protected by governments and companies alike, and must not be surrendered to authoritarian misuse. As gaming becomes one of the largest digital environments for youth globally, state-sponsored digital entrapment of minors must be viewed as an urgent international threat. Videogames for children must never become traps leading to forced disappearance and arbitrary detention.
ECDHR calls for the immediate release of all Egyptian minors entrapped through online gaming and for an end to the misuse of counterterrorism laws against children. ECDHR also urges online gaming platforms to implement human-rights impact assessments and child-protection safeguards to prevent their platforms from being exploited by states for digital repression.