UPDATED 2 JUL 2025
Types of content that we demote
Similar to how our Community Standards indicate the types of content that we don't allow on Facebook, our Content Distribution Guidelines describe the types of content that we think may either be problematic or low quality, so we reduce its distribution in Feed for everyone. These reductions, also called demotions, are rooted in our commitment to the values of responding to people's direct feedback, incentivising publishers to invest in high-quality content and fostering a safer community. We want people to be able to enjoy and share content without being disrupted by problematic or low-quality content.
Reduced distribution may vary depending on the number of times the poster or commenter has violated our rules previously, the degree of confidence of our systems' predictions, among other things. While the majority of our reduced distribution enforcements are applied around the world equally, we also recognise that in certain situations we cannot always take a one-size-fits-all approach to enforcement. For example, we may temporarily adjust our enforcements in a specific region or during a critical event.
Additionally, Facebook uses personalised ranking in various ways. Of note, we use personalisation to reduce the distribution of content that doesn't violate our policies but may get close. For example, we may reduce the distribution of "borderline" content, such as a photo of a person posing in a sexually suggestive manner, speech that includes profanity, borderline hate speech or gory images. We make this content less visible for those who prefer not to see it. Read more about our personalised ranking approach here.
As these guidelines develop, we will continue to provide transparency about how we define and treat problematic or low-quality content. A summary of updates that we make to the guidelines can be found on our Changes, corrections and adjustments page.
Responding to people's direct feedback
We're always eager to receive people's feedback about what they do and don't like seeing on Facebook and make changes to Feed in response.
Incentivising creators to invest in high-quality and accurate content
We want people to have interesting, new material to engage with in the long term, so we create incentives that encourage the creation of this type of content.
Fostering a safer community
Some content may be problematic for our community, whether or not it's intended that way. We make this content difficult to encounter for people who aren't actively trying to see it.