The behavior for handling avatars with deleted UGC items appears to be broken. Previously, when an avatar item (e.g., hat, shirt, pants, layered clothing) was moderated, any user wearing the item would have their avatar replaced with the placeholder “Content Deleted” image. This ensured that any inappropriate or violating content would no longer be visible on user profiles once it had been deleted from the catalog.
Currently, this functionality no longer works. Avatars wearing deleted items continue to display the original appearance, including any inappropriate or violating content, until the user manually updates their avatar. This affects all catalog item types, including 2D clothing (shirts, pants) and 3D UGC items (hats, accessories, layered clothing).
This change poses a major safety concern, as inappropriate or violating content remains visible on user avatars even after moderation. It undermines Roblox’s commitment to user safety and content moderation and I’m hoping this can be fixed quite promptly.
This issue seems to have occurred recently and may be related to updates in how avatar rendering or moderation processes are handled. Screenshots are attached to demonstrate the behavior before and after this safety feature was broken.
For reference, consider this user’s avatar: berto - Roblox. The top half of their head is a deleted item, but the violating content still displays on their avatar preview despite the item being removed from the catalog.
While this is a relatively benign example, it highlights the issue. Users who tend to wear inappropriate content—particularly bypassed 2D shirts or pants—could exploit this behavior to keep such content visible on their avatars even after moderation, which poses a huge safety risk.
Moderated avatars before the bug:
Moderated avatars after the bug:
Reproduction Steps:
- Equip any UGC item (e.g., shirt, hat, layered clothing) on your avatar.
- Have the item moderated and deleted from the catalog.
- Revisit your user profile and observe that your avatar preview still displays the moderated content instead of the “Content Deleted” image.
Expected Behavior:
When a catalog item is moderated and deleted, the affected avatars should update to the “Content Deleted” image immediately. This behavior has been consistent in Roblox for years, ensuring that violating content is not visible after moderation.