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Change log
Change log
Current version
We understand that people have different sensitivities with regard to graphic and violent imagery. To protect users from such content, we remove the most graphic content and add warning labels to other graphic content so that people are aware it may be sensitive or disturbing before they click through. We may also restrict the ability for users under 18 to view such content (or “age-gate” the content).
We recognize that users may share content in order to shed light on or condemn acts such as human rights abuses or armed conflict. Our policies consider when content shared in this context and allow room for discussion and awareness raising accordingly.
In ads, we provide additional protections. For example, content that has been deemed sensitive or disturbing is not eligible to run in ads. We also prohibit ads from including images and videos that are shocking, gruesome, or otherwise sensational.
Imagery of people
Videos of people, living or deceased, in non-medical contexts, depicting:
Live-streams of capital punishments.
Sadistic Remarks
Sadistic remarks are commentary – such as captions or comments – expressing joy or pleasure from the suffering or humiliation of people or animals.
We remove
Imagery of people
Videos of people, living or deceased, in medical contexts depicting:
Still images of people, living or deceased, depicting:
Imagery (both videos and still images) depicting a persons’ violent death (including their moment of death or the aftermath) or a person experiencing a life threatening event (such as being struck by a car, falling from a great height, or experiencing other possibly-fatal physical injury).
Imagery depicting capital punishment of a person (excluding live-streams).
Imagery depicting acts of brutality (e.g., acts of violence or lethal threats on forcibly restrained subjects) committed against a person or group of people.
Imagery depicting non-medical foreign objects (e.g., knives, nails, or other metal objects) piercing a person’s skin.
Imagery depicting a person’s broken, bleeding teeth, removed teeth where blood is present; or the insertion of foreign objects into the teeth or gums.
Imagery of animals
Any imagery of animals, still living or going from live to dead, – depicting dismemberment, visible innards, burning or charring, or being boiled alive.
Any imagery of animals, when there are visible innards or dismemberment of non-regenerating body parts, unless in the wild.
Imagery of people
Imagery (both videos and still images) depicting non-medical foreign objects (e.g., knives, nails, or other metal objects) piercing a person’s skin in a religious or cultural context.
Imagery depicting visible innards in a birthing context.
Imagery depicting a person’s violent death or life threatening event when the act of violence is committed by uniformed personnel performing a police function.
Imagery depicting acts of brutality (e.g., acts of violence or lethal threats on forcibly restrained subjects) by uniformed personnel performing a police function.
Imagery depicting fetuses and babies outside of the womb that are deceased, unless another person is present in the image.
Imagery, in a medical context, depicting a person’s broken, bleeding teeth, removed teeth where blood is present; or the insertion of foreign objects into the teeth or gums.
Imagery of animals
Imagery depicting already-dead animals, if there is dismemberment, visible innards, burning or charring, or where blood is present.
Imagery depicting animals going from live to dead if there is no dismemberment, or visible innards, burning or charring, or boiling alive.
Imagery depicting people committing acts of brutality (e.g., acts of violence or lethal threats on forcibly restrained subjects) on living animals.
We remove:
Imagery depicting the violent death of someone when a family member of the deceased requests its removal.
Video which includes audio, but not a visual depiction, of a person’s violent death when the person’s death is confirmed by law enforcement record, death certificate, Trusted Partner report, or media report and a family member of the deceased requests its removal.
Video of charred or burning humans in the context of self-immolation as an act of protest.
See some examples of what enforcement looks like for people on Facebook, such as: what it looks like to report something you don’t think should be on Facebook, to be told you’ve violated our Community Standards and to see a warning screen over certain content.
Note: We’re always improving, so what you see here may be slightly outdated compared to what we currently use.
Percentage of times people saw violating content
Number of pieces of violating content we took action on
Percentage of violating content we found before people reported it
Number of pieces of content people appealed after we took action on it
Number of pieces of content we restored after we originally took action on it
Percentage of times people saw violating content
Number of pieces of violating content we took action on
Percentage of violating content we found before people reported it
Number of pieces of content people appealed after we took action on it
Number of pieces of content we restored after we originally took action on it
We have an option to report, whether it's on a post, comment, story, message, profile or something else.
We help people report things that they don’t think should be on our platform.
We ask people to tell us more about what’s wrong. This helps us send the report to the right place.
Make sure the details are correct before you click Submit. It’s important that the problem selected truly reflects what was posted.
After these steps, we submit the report. We also lay out what people should expect next.
We remove things if they go against our Community Standards, but you can also Unfollow, Block or Unfriend to avoid seeing posts in future.
After we’ve reviewed the report, we’ll send the reporting user a notification.
We’ll share more details about our review decision in the Support Inbox. We’ll notify people that this information is there and send them a link to it.
If people think we got the decision wrong, they can request another review.
We’ll send a final response after we’ve re-reviewed the content, again to the Support Inbox.
When someone posts something that doesn't follow our rules, we’ll tell them.
We’ll also address common misperceptions and explain why we made the decision to enforce.
We’ll give people easy-to-understand explanations about the relevant rule.
If people disagree with the decision, they can ask for another review and provide more information.
We set expectations about what will happen after the review has been submitted.
We have the same policies around the world, for everyone on Facebook.
Our global team of over 15,000 reviewers work every day to keep people on Facebook safe.
Outside experts, academics, NGOs and policymakers help inform the Facebook Community Standards.
Learn what you can do if you see something on Facebook that goes against our Community Standards.