Roku & TCL Sued Over Software Updates That Brick TVs

A federal class action claims Roku and TCL are pushing software updates that brick smart TVs.

Lead plaintiff Terri Else filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

She wants to represent every U.S. buyer of an affected Roku-powered TV, with a separate California subclass for anyone who bought a qualifying set on or after December 16, 2024. It’s the second class action targeting these televisions in recent months.

What the Roku Lawsuit Alleges

The suit accuses both companies of violating California’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act, arguing that Roku knew about the defects and kept selling anyway. Else stated the following:

“Despite consumers’ persistent complaints of repeated system failures, often leaving their TVs completely inoperable, defendants offer no recourse. This is inconsistent with representations made in express warranties, which promise to repair, correct or otherwise remediate the software defect.”

Else wants damages, full restitution, and a jury trial. Roku is no stranger to court. The company was recently sued for selling children’s data among other lawsuits over the years.

Which Roku TVs Are Named

The filing calls out the Roku Select Series, Roku Plus Series, and TCL 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-Series sets running the Roku OS.

Owners say their televisions work fine out of the box, then break shortly after an update installs. Some won’t power on. Others freeze, restart in a loop, drop from Wi-Fi, or show nothing but a black screen, often within one to two years of purchase.

One TCL QM8 owner told Top Class Actions their screen blacked out and shut off after a software push.

Reddit Has Been Flagging This for Years

The lawsuit isn’t coming out of nowhere. Posts on the Roku and TCL subreddits going back at least two years describe the same pattern: forced firmware updates that kill connectivity features, sets that refuse to finish updating, and TVs that simply stop turning on. That timeline lines up with the window the lawsuit covers.

Roku isn’t the only company being sued over software updates. Amazon is facing its own lawsuit over Firestick slowdowns, and the pattern is the same: a device people bought years ago suddenly degrades after a forced update.

Final Thoughts from Troy

I’ve never recommended Roku devices on TROYPOINT, and stories like this are exactly why.

Between the data-selling lawsuits, the ad-stuffed home screen, and now forced software updates bricking TVs, the pattern keeps repeating itself. My take on why Roku’s success shows everything wrong with streaming goes deeper on this.

We recommend Android TV/Google TV devices instead because you get more control, customization, and the ability to sideload third-party apps.

For more details, refer to the original report from Top Class Actions.

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