Video Upload Moderation: No Robux Refund for Rejected Content Leading to Significant Creator Losses

[sombolian (Realest)]

This will explain the deep reason of why creators don’t want to use the videos feature of Roblox:

There’s a significant issue with the video upload system that’s impacting creators financially. When a video upload fails moderation, the 2,000 Robux upload fee (equivalent to $7 in DevEx rates) is not refunded, resulting in permanent loss of funds.

Impact:

• Creators are discouraged from using the video feature due to financial risk
• Personally I have lost of over $50+ from this issue, money that could’ve been spent on advertisements or anything else!
• Awful feedback on why videos were rejected, making it difficult to avoid future losses
• The high cost combined with no refund policy creates a barrier for platform content creation

Current System:

• Video upload cost: 2,000 Robux ($7 DevEx equivalent)
• Failed moderation = Complete loss of Robux
• No refund mechanism in place
• No detailed moderation feedback provided

Suggested Solution:

Consider implementing either:

• Refund system for rejected uploads (To avoid spam it can be a delayed refund)
• Pre-moderation review before charging Robux
• Detailed feedback on why content was rejected
• Reduced upload costs to minimize creator risk

This issue is actively discouraging creators, including myself, from utilizing the video feature. Many of us are choosing not to upload videos at all rather than risk losing significant amounts of Robux with no recourse.

Business Impact:

• Reduced platform content creation
• Decreased creator willingness to experiment with video features
• Limited video content available for experiences
• Lost opportunity for platform growth in video content

Please consider implementing a more creator-friendly policy regarding video upload fees and moderation.

Platform: All platforms
Feature: Video Upload System

[raskolibov]

Maybe follow the rules and then you won’t have to worry about the rest? Also, I don’t understand why this is a bug report, we are clearly not in the feature request category.

Also, the same applies to UGC items: you spend 750 Robux to upload, the item gets deleted, and the reason given is something vague like “Spam” or “Misusing Roblox Systems.”

I’m sure UGC creators, who cater to a much larger audience than video uploaders, face the issue of their UGC items being randomly moderated after upload (especially bundle creators, who face this issue constantly). Focusing specifically on video uploads seems a bit absurd when there’s a much bigger issue.

I’m against refunds in this case because, let’s say there’s inappropriate content, and if people get refunds every time, they can keep trying to bypass moderation until it eventually passes. I’m sure Roblox wouldn’t want to make it easier for content that should be prohibited to slip through the cracks with such a strange refund system.

[CraX_573]

@raskolibov

Let’s say there’s inappropriate content, and if people get refunds every time, they can keep trying to bypass moderation until it eventually passes

Depending on what and how they’re trying to bypass, wouldn’t they be banned pretty quickly?
If it was sexual or racist content, they’d be banned instantly.
If it was something lighter and they went through all their strikes, they’d still get 24 hours followed by a week, so even with the refunds it’d be far too slow for them to effectively try and bypass moderation.

I see no reason to not have refunds.

[S7N0W (sue)]

You’re right—refunds make sense and wouldn’t compromise moderation. If someone tries to bypass the rules, especially with serious violations, they’d be dealt with quickly under the existing system. Even for smaller offenses, the strike process already limits repeated misuse. A refund system wouldn’t make it easier to abuse moderation but would instead give genuine creators some security when uploading content, which is only fair.

[Varonex_0 (Varonex)]

I don’t completely agree with this. Sure refunding may push people a little bit more to spam post the same asset, however I also believe that those accounts would be terminated as quickly as possible. Not to mention the fact that there are assets you can publish freely, like images. That means there are no safeguards to prevent spammers from publishing illegal images because they don’t loose money. Some of them are moderated quickly, and the associated accounts are heavily punished. Sometimes it is not the case, and the asset remains available despite the fact it breaks TOS.

Regarding the fact that “good behavior is rewarding”, that is completely wrong. Sometimes you absolutely did not break any rule, and you still get punished. That reminds me of may 2023, when there was, I assume, a bug with the moderation system.
Here is a picture that I wanted to upload, as a placeholder in order to create a gamepass:

I was moderated for this for:

Another case around the same period of time would be that one: I wanted to upload an image on my talent hub profile. It was an image of an interface I programed to help moderators of a game I used to work for. This interface displays publicly available profile info, gamepass info, badge info, and friends info. This is the two images I posted:

Nothing wrong with those as you can see, this is what I got:

You could argue over the fact that yes, “Account Age”, and “Display Name” could have triggered the system over thinking I was sharing personal info about minors. That still portrays the flaws of the system as all the images I’ve sent so far do not feature any of the alleged things I actually did not do.

So far, I did not intend to break the rules, and I appealed both actions. Each of them were replied by stating the appeal was denied. I sent a reply to the response emails, and shortly after got an answer stating that it was indeed a mistake. I got both warnings removed & those assets were eventually reinstated.

All of this to show that you can have the BEST intentions in the world, you may still be wrongfully moderated.

I am personally fine with funds not getting given back after a moderation action. I would still prefer to get a refund either way, maybe a deferred refund, or maybe apply a 30% tax to it.

However, if you happen to post an asset, which respects every rules, but you still get moderated for it. Then, you appeal the punishment, and the appeal is accepted, I hope you do get a total refund.
I have not experienced such case, so I cannot testify about that. It would be completely unfair to get your money taken away, even though you did not break any of the rules.

---

The appeal process can be a long process. What I advise to do is to ALWAYS reply to the 1st email you get that states the decision. I insist, do not reply to the automatic email you get that indicates your ticket was successfully created. Reply to the 1st one you get that states the sentence.
I believe the appeal system is also automated, but if you reply to the mail I indicated, a human agent will eventually reply to the case.

[raskolibov]

@Varonex_0

I got both warnings removed & those assets were eventually reinstated.

So, in conclusion, you mentioned that moderation yielded the result you were hoping for. I don’t fully understand the issue here. In the two cases you mentioned above, the assets were restored, meaning the expected outcome was achieved.

@Varonex_0

All of this to show that you can have the BEST intentions in the world, you may still be wrongfully moderated.

I mean, yeah, but you can easily sort this out by sending an appeal. If your appeal is rejected, it likely means the asset violates the rules. However, an asset can be rejected in the initial review due to various reasons, like technical issues, which doesn’t necessarily mean you have to accept the outcome, which is also the purpose of the appeals.

@Varonex_0

However, if you happen to post an asset, which respects every rules, but you still get moderated for it. Then, you appeal the punishment, and the appeal is accepted, I hope you do get a total refund.

I had to read this at least a few times to make sure I understood it correctly, but excuse me, if your appeal for an asset was accepted and the item was restored, meaning it’s now available on the platform, why should they give you a refund? If I’m missing something here, I’d appreciate it if you could clarify.

Overall, I disagree with you because if everyone knew they could get a refund, they’d start spamming items in the catalog and uploading them without hesitation, which would lead to less scrutiny during the upload process compared to now. Looking at the current state of the catalog, this doesn’t seem like a decision Roblox would want to make. It would be quite punishing, discouraging people too much, yet despite this, the catalog is still disastrous. I hope my point is clear.

As for images, it’s actually a good argument, but I think Roblox should take more precautions with the catalog than with images, because UGC items are visible in almost every game when you equip them on your avatar, whereas images are only visible to developers or in games where you can insert decals, so they are shown to a much smaller audience. Not to mention, if image uploads were paid, it would most likely be the downfall of Roblox if you really think about it.

[Varonex_0 (Varonex)]

Yes that’s my bad, if it’s restored then no need for a refund obviously

[AVeryFancyDoctor]

I’d argue that with moderations track record, and the price of this. To encourage its use, a refund isn’t a bad idea.

[Howimetted]

Thanks for the report! We’ll follow up when we have an update for you;

[1MOTIONJooshii (Jooshii)]

Hello! Any updates on this feature?