What You Need to Know About Roblox’s $10 Million Content Moderation Lawsuit

Even if you're impacted, you (and your kids) aren't going to get rich.

This is me trying to escape from playing Roblux with my kid. Credit: Roblox

You, or your children, might be entitled to money from Roblox, according to the details of a newly settled class action lawsuit hinging upon the consequences of Roblox’s moderation policies. Because so much of Roblox relies on content created by its player base, it’s also a platform where that content is constantly moderated, and being “moderated” can mean deleted. If you buy an item that gets deleted—copyright infringement, because it’s deemed inappropriate, because Roblox wakes up and decides it doesn’t like it—it doesn’t stick around in your inventory. It vanishes.

In short, there’s likely to be a $10 million pot of money available to Roblox users who, prior to May 11, 2023, had items deleted from their inventory as a result of Roblox moderation. You are not, however, likely to become rich. If your purchase amount was under $10, you’ll simply be given in-game Robux credits, while anyone who spent over $10 can apply for a cash payment at the settlement’s official website.

You are likely to receive a notification, either within Roblox or at an email address associated with your Roblox account. If you do not, though, you can still apply.

The money isn’t yet available because a court has to sign off, and of course, the devil is in the details, because according to the lawsuit itself “any attorney’s fees, costs, and service awards approved by the Court will be deducted from the Settlement Fund.”

“The timeline for payment to be sent out does tend to vary on a case by case basis,” said Ty Armstrong, community manager at lawsuit tracking website ClassAction.org. “From the time of the initial filing it can take months or even years to come to a final resolution. Thankfully, we are in the settlement phase of this particular litigation and shouldn't have to wait too long for the funds to be distributed.”

Armstrong noted the settlement website lists September 27 as the final date for the settlement being approved, which means payments are likely to hit shortly after, barring any setbacks. ClassAction also notes a small number of users, a little more than 300, technically qualify for the settlement but will not be allowed to participate:

Notably excluded from the settlement are more than 300 Roblox accounts owned by individuals who, according to Roblox, “spent over 80,000 Robux (equating to over $1,000)” on three categories of virtual in-game items and are believed to be “engaged in suspicious behavior,” such as potential money laundering.

One Crossplay reader received an email regarding the settlement.

“This is definitely the weirdest class-action email I’ve gotten,” said the reader. “Congratulations to Jane Doe, whoever she is—I wonder how many Robux she gets as the class representative?”

The lawsuit’s origins are an unnamed “Jane Doe,” a pseudonym given for anonymity:

“Plaintiff Jane Doe, a young girl, alleged that Roblox had a practice of inducing users to purchase virtual content with Robux, but then deleting their access to that content without offering refunds. This forced Roblox users to spend more U.S. dollars to purchase more Robux in order to replace the deleted virtual items. Plaintiff alleged that Roblox’s deletion practices were arbitrary, deceptive, and fraudulent. She brought this case on behalf of a class of Roblox users in the United States who purchased virtual items in the metaverse that Roblox later deleted without offering them refunds.”

As part of the lawsuit, Roblox has agreed to implement an “automatic refund program” for the next four years if other Roblox users are impacted by similar moderation. 

Per the settlement documents filed by Jane Doe’s team, Roblox reportedly contended it owed “Jane Doe” nothing in response for deleting the items, because that was its right within Roblox’s terms of service. (Terms of service are those long text documents you’re forced to agree to as part of everyday internet life, and they’re full of complicated legal jargon that nobody actually reads but actively sign away your rights.)

Again, per Jane Doe’s legal team:

“Plaintiff is one of Roblox’s many young users. She created her Roblox account when she was just 10 years old. Although Roblox was aware of her age, it did not seek confirmation that she had parental permission before creating her account. Nor did Roblox take any steps to ensure that Plaintiff had read, much less understood, the Roblox Terms of Use. After creating her account, Plaintiff bought hundreds of Robux using her own money. She used those Robux to buy items for her avatar, items she believed would remain available to her in the Roblox metaverse unless she personally misused them. But Roblox deleted several items that Plaintiff purchased, none of which contained trademarked or offensive content. And just as Roblox allegedly hoped, Plaintiff was forced to purchase additional Robux to replace the items she lost.”

I grew up in the era of horse armor, as microtransactions and the sale of digital items went from absurdity to an everyday part of gaming life. Now, people buy clothing for their avatars and don’t think anything of it. But while NFTs were always and obviously a financial pyramid scheme, digital items have accrued emotional and financial weight. And when you build a wild west ecosystem like Roblox, in which in-game purchases are splashed loudly and proudly, it’s going to have consequences!

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Also:

• In Roblox, we limit our oldest to buying “avatar” accessories. This means the purchases are entirely official Roblox gear, and carry across every experience.

• My favorite purchases are when she wants something in Toca Life World. It’s basically a digital doll house, and the art is really fantastic. I love that thing.

• Her spending money is funny, because we just cycle the money back to her. She earns money via chores and other tasks, and it’s what she has to spend to get candy and/or Robux. But then I just give her that money back for the chores.