Last month was a major jump in publicity for the kid-friendly gaming platform Roblox, so much so, in fact, it's even making it to the White House. A Roblox and Twitter user recently posed as a White House reporter, infiltrating some recent press briefings and even managing to sneak in a few questions for press secretary Jen Psaki.
The White House isn't always safe from outside intruders, though with the COVID-19 pandemic still being a major threat, it's hard to believe that anyone could get this far. However, press briefings during the pandemic are limited to 14 people in the room rather than 49, forcing some reporters to resort to using Zoom to ask questions, or having fellow reporters ask questions for them as a courtesy. Although it seems easy enough, the preparation for such a daring move began nearly five months earlier.
Twitter user Kacey 'Lego' Montagu began their infiltration in December by creating two Twitter accounts for "some fun," but also as a way to inform people about the POTUS and VP. The now deactivated accounts, @WHschedule and @WHpoolreport, served as sources of information that reporters would usually consume - specifically the daily schedules of the administration, and pool reports, real time dispatches from a smaller group of journalists.
After gaining some traction due to insiders, including some that worked in the White House administration, Montagu began inquiring about becoming a pool reporter themselves and applying for a day pass to cover the White House in person. They also took the opportunity to email questions to press aides for President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, and even congratulating press aides for landing positions or having cool roles.
Before long, Montagu had built up enough rapport to begin sending regular emails to journalists serving as a White House pool reporters with the questions they wanted in the briefing room. While several reporters declined to ask questions on their behalf, they were successful in planting questions in reporters at other publications. Although it would be hilarious to watch the White House vet questions about the scariest games on Roblox, the questions were surprisingly relevant, asking about COVID-19 travel bans, coming ambassadorships, and even Biden's reaction to Microsoft being hacked.
Despite Roblox not being a key topic in the questions asked, Montagu has quite an interesting history in relation to the kid-friendly platform. On the website, Montagu was found to be a part of a group called nUSA, one in which players role-play as individuals in the U.S. government. At one point, Montagu was positioned as Secretary of State, though they chose to resign after the [nUSA] President went to war. More recently, Montagu bragged about duping the WHCA and even said they were close to being verified by Twitter.
Of course that never happened, as Montagu was eventually exposed due to several pool reporters posing questions on their behalf, sparking inquiries about the origins. By Friday, several of Montagu's social media accounts, including @WHschedule, were suspended for not disclosing that it had no affiliation with the U.S. government.
While the true intentions of Montagu will never be clear, the questions they posed were pretty legitimate and not too different from what other journalists would ask. That doesn't mean Montagu should be allowed back in with open arms, though if Roblox is looking to get a representative in the White House, it has a candidate.
Source: Politico