While investigating moderation issues related to “Ugandan Knuckles” content (see context in this DevForum post and my reply), I noticed a separate bug affecting how deleted decals behave on the Creator Hub.
I reported several “Ugandan Knuckles” decals through Roblox’s Illegal Content Reporting form. The DSA agents correctly reviewed and removed the associated decal/image assets, so their moderation decisions are being applied properly.
However, after a decal is deleted, it remains visible to any user account that previously viewed that decal before it was removed. For users who never viewed the decal prior to deletion, the image fails to load and appears as a blank white square, which is the expected behavior for deleted content (though perhaps it would make more sense to display a “deleted” icon instead of a plain placeholder).
The decal only disappears for the affected user after manually clearing browser data or cache, which demonstrates that the issue is related to Roblox’s CDN not properly invalidating cached assets after deletion. This behavior was reproduced on three different browsers, so it is not browser-specific.
Expected Behavior
Once a decal is deleted, it should no longer be visible to any user, including those who have viewed it before, without requiring them to clear browser data.
Actual Behavior
- Users who viewed a decal before deletion continue to see it even after it’s removed.
- Users who never viewed it see a blank white square instead.
- Clearing browser data or cache immediately removes the decal for affected users.
Steps to Reproduce
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View any public decal on the Creator Hub with Account A.
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Report and successfully get that decal removed (using the DSA form is not required, but it’s an effective and fast way to trigger removal).
- As mentioned above, I reported several “Ugandan Knuckles”-related decals for testing. Those get removed almost instantly, which makes them ideal for reproducing the bug.
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Log in with Account B and open the same decal’s page – it should now display as a blank white square.
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Revisit the decal’s page with Account A – the decal is still visible even though it has been deleted.
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Clear browser cache or data and refresh the page – the decal finally disappears.
This shows decal visibility does not properly update for users who had previously loaded the asset due to caching or asset persistence on Roblox’s CDN.
Additional Evidence
- Reported content: https://create.roblox.com/store/asset/14779372896/nani?pageNumber=1&pagePosition=2
- Response from DSA agents confirming the content was removed:
- View from Account A (user who viewed the decal before deletion – still visible):
- View from Account B (user who never opened the decal before deletion – blank white square):
- View from Account A after clearing cache – decal no longer visible:
Page URL: https://create.roblox.com/store/decals