Using Meta Intellectual Property and Licenses

Policy details

Change log

CHANGE LOG

Change log

Today

Current version

Policy Rationale

Meta dedicates substantial resources to the development, protection, and proper usage of its intellectual property. This policy helps to ensure that Meta’s intellectual property is not used unlawfully, without our prior written permission, or in a manner that is inconsistent with our Brand Resource Center.

Do not post content that:

  • Brand usage:
    • Uses Meta’s copyrights or trademarks without Meta’s prior written permission or in a manner that is prohibited by the Meta Brand Resource Center.
    • Represents any of Meta’s brands in a way that makes it the most distinctive or prominent feature of the creative.
    • Modifies Meta’s brand assets in any way, such as by changing the design or color, or using them in special effects or animation.
  • Brand endorsement:
    • Implies, without Meta’s prior written permission, an endorsement or partnership of any kind with any of Meta’s brands.
    • Implies, without Meta’s prior written permission, an endorsement or support by any of Meta’s brands (such as Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp), technology or program.
  • Depicts the user interface of any products in a manner that:
    • Is an inaccurate depiction of the current appearance, features, or functionality of the products.
    • Modifies the user interface in any way, such as adding special effects, interference or animation.
    • Uses elements of the user interface separately or individually
    • Does not depict the user interface within the context of a relevant device like a mobile or desktop.
  • Uses music or other content in a manner that violates Meta’s music licensing agreements.
  • Streams Meta-owned and/or exclusively licensed Facebook Watch content without prior written approval.
  • Uses intellectual property rights owned by Meta without prior written permission.
  • Uses marks that are confusingly similar to Meta’s trademarks.

We Remove:

  • Accounts that engage in repeated violations of this policy, including by creating new accounts after removal.

We allow content that uses intellectual property rights owned and/or licensed by Meta in a manner that is:

  • Explicitly permitted by Meta in writing, and/or
  • Consistent with the guidelines in the Meta Brand Resource Center.

User experiences

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.

Reporting
1
Universal entry point

We have an option to report, whether it's on a post, comment, story, message, profile or something else.

2
Get started

We help people report things that they don’t think should be on our platform.

3
Select a problem

We ask people to tell us more about what’s wrong. This helps us send the report to the right place.

4
Check your report

Make sure the details are correct before you click Submit. It’s important that the problem selected truly reflects what was posted.

5
Report submitted

After these steps, we submit the report. We also lay out what people should expect next.

6
More options

We remove things if they go against our Community Standards, but you can also Unfollow, Block or Unfriend to avoid seeing posts in future.

Post-report communication
1
Update via notifications

After we’ve reviewed the report, we’ll send the reporting user a notification.

2
More detail in the Support Inbox

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.

3
Appeal option

If people think we got the decision wrong, they can request another review.

4
Post-appeal communication

We’ll send a final response after we’ve re-reviewed the content, again to the Support Inbox.

Takedown experience
1
Immediate notification

When someone posts something that doesn't follow our rules, we’ll tell them.

2
Additional context

We’ll also address common misperceptions and explain why we made the decision to enforce.

3
Policy Explanation

We’ll give people easy-to-understand explanations about the relevant rule.

4
Option for review

If people disagree with the decision, they can ask for another review and provide more information.

5
Final decision

We set expectations about what will happen after the review has been submitted.

Warning screens
1
Warning screens in context

We cover certain content in News Feed and other surfaces, so people can choose whether to see it.

2
More information

In this example, we give more context on why we’ve covered the photo with more context from independent fact-checkers

Enforcement

We have the same policies around the world, for everyone on Facebook.

Review teams

Our global team of over 15,000 reviewers work every day to keep people on Facebook safe.

Stakeholder engagement

Outside experts, academics, NGOs and policymakers help inform the Facebook Community Standards.

Get help with additional protection of minors

Learn what you can do if you see something on Facebook that goes against our Community Standards.