Community Standards
Policies that outline what is and isn't allowed on our apps.
Meta Advertising Standards
Policies for ad content and business assets.
Other policies
Other policies that apply to Meta technologies.
How Meta improves
How we update our policies, measure results, work with others, and more.
Age-Appropriate Content
Explore how we help teens have safe, positive experiences on Facebook and Instagram.
Our Approach To Dangerous Organizations and Individuals
How we approach dangerous organizations and individuals.
Our approach to the opioid epidemic
How we support communities in the face of the opioid epidemic.
Our approach to elections
How we help prevent interference, empower people to vote and more.
Our approach to misinformation
How we work with independent fact-checkers, and more, to identify and take action on misinformation.
Our approach to newsworthy content
How we assess content for newsworthiness.
Our approach to Facebook Feed ranking
How we reduce problematic content in News Feed.
Our approach to explaining ranking
How we build AI systems.
Content Library and Content Library API
Comprehensive access to public data from Facebook and Instagram
Ad Library tools
Comprehensive and searchable database of all ads currently running across Meta technologies
Other research tools and datasets
Additional tools for in-depth research on Meta technologies and programs
Community Standards Enforcement Report
Quarterly report on how well we're doing at enforcing our policies on the Facebook app and Instagram.
Intellectual Property
Report on how well we're helping people protect their intellectual property.
Government Requests for User Data
Report on government request for people's data.
Content Restrictions Based on Local Law
Report on when we restrict content that's reported to us as violating local law.
Internet Disruptions
Report on intentional internet restrictions that limit people's ability to access the internet.
Widely Viewed Content Report
Quarterly report on what people see on Facebook, including the content that receives the widest distribution during the quarter.
Regulatory and Other Transparency Reports
Download current and past regulatory reports for Facebook and Instagram.
Discriminatory Practices
Policy details
Change log
CHANGE LOG
Change log
Today
Current version
Dec 20, 2024
Discriminatory Practices
Meta prohibits advertisers from using our ads products to discriminate against people. This means that advertisers may not (1) use our audience selection tools to (a) wrongfully target specific groups of people for advertising (see advertising policy on Targeting), or (b) wrongfully exclude specific groups of people from seeing their ads; or (2) include discriminatory content in their ads. Advertisers are also required to comply with applicable laws that prohibit discrimination (see advertising policy on Illegal Products or Services). These include laws that prohibit discriminating against groups of people in connection with, for example, offers of housing, employment, and financial products and services.
Any United States advertiser or advertiser targeting the United States, Canada or certain parts of Europe that is running financial products and services, housing or employment ads, must self identify as a Special Ad Category, as it becomes available, and run such ads with approved targeting options.
Additional information and resources on United States non-discrimination laws:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
American Civil Liberties Union
Leadership Conferences on Civil and Human Rights
Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division
National Fair Housing Alliance
Disclaimer: This guide is not a substitute for legal advice. Consult a legal professional for specific advice about your situation.
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.
