A US federal judge has said that Facebook must face a class-action lawsuit  to refund money that was spent by children on its website without parents' permission.

Most of these transactions took place through games, and the suit specifically states that Facebook should be forced to provide refunds from the purcase of Facebook credits. 

The virtual currency was scrapped in 2013, but the suit claims that Facebook's "all sales are final" policy is in violation of California state law that protects parents in similar situations.

Tell it to the Judge

US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California said that those affected by the false purchases are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

She said that these plaintiffs may now press their claim that Facebook should change how it handles online transactions by minors.

Meanwhile, Facebook has argued that the lawsuit lacks merit, and that the plaintiffs' individual claims are "too disparate" to be addressed.

Regardless, this marks the latest in a string of trials against the Silicon Valley giants over similar charges. Apple and Google have both in recent months been forced to refund millions of dollars to out-of-pocket parents.