Policy details

Change log

CHANGE LOG

Change log

Today

Current version

Jun 26, 2024
Jun 30, 2022
Dec 18, 2020
Oct 30, 2019
Policy Rationale

We do not allow content that is designed to deceive, mislead, or overwhelm users in order to artificially increase viewership. This content detracts from people's ability to engage authentically on our platforms and can threaten the security, stability and usability of our services. We also seek to prevent abusive tactics, such as spreading deceptive links to draw unsuspecting users in through misleading functionality or code, or impersonating a trusted domain.

Online spam is a lucrative industry. Our policies and detection must constantly evolve to keep up with emerging spam trends and tactics. In taking action to combat spam, we seek to balance raising the costs for its producers and distributors on our platforms, with protecting the vibrant, authentic activity of our community.

We do not allow:
  • Posting, sharing, engaging with content or creating accounts, Groups, Pages, Events or other assets, either manually or automatically, at very high frequencies.
    • We may place restrictions on accounts that are acting at lower frequencies when other indicators of Spam (e.g., posting repetitive content) or signals of inauthenticity are present.
  • Attempting to or successfully selling, buying, or exchanging platform assets, such as accounts, groups, pages, etc.
  • Attempting to or successfully selling, buying, or exchanging site privileges, such as admin or moderator roles, or permission to post in specific spaces.
  • Attempting to or successfully selling, buying, or exchanging content for something of monetary value, except clearly identified Branded Content, as defined by our Branded Content Policy.
  • Attempting to or successfully selling, buying, or exchanging for engagement, such as likes, shares, views, follows, clicks, use of specific hashtags, etc. This includes:
    • Offering giveaways (i.e., offering others a chance to win) of cash or cash equivalents in exchange for engagement. (e.g., “Anyone that likes my page will be entered to win $500”)
    • Offering to provide anything of monetary value in exchange for engagement. (e.g., “If you like my page, I will give you an iPhone!”)
  • Requiring or claiming that users are required to engage with content (e.g., liking, sharing) before they are able to view or interact with promised content.
  • Sharing deceptive or misleading URLs, domains, or applications including:
    • Cloaking: Cloaking is any attempt to circumvent our content policies by intentionally presenting different off-platform content, such as URLs or applications, to our integrity systems versus what is shown to users.
    • Misleading Links: Content containing a link that promises one type of content but delivers something substantially different.This can include content in a promised app or software.
    • Deceptive redirect behavior: Websites that require an action (e.g. captcha, watch ad, click here) in order to view the expected landing page content and the domain name of the URL changes after the required action is complete, or automatically redirects users to a substantially different domain without any user action.
    • Like/share-gating: Requiring users to engage (in the form of likes, shares, follows, or any other public-facing form of engagement) to gain access to specific, exclusive content.
    • Deceptive platform functionality - Mimicking the features or functionality of our services, such as mimicking fundraising, in-line polls, play buttons, or the Like button where that functionality does not exist or does not function as expected, in order to get a user to follow a link.
    • Deceptive landing page functionality: Websites that have a misleading user interface, which results in accidental traffic being generated (e.g. pop-ups/unders, clickjacking, etc.).This includes tactics like trapping, where irrelevant pop-ups appear when a person attempts to leave the landing page.
    • Landing page or domain impersonation - An off-platform landing page, URL, or external website or domain that pretends to be a reputable brand or service by using a name, domain or content that features typos, misspellings or other means to impersonate well-known websites, domains or brands using a landing page similar to another, trusted site.
    • Other deceptive uses of URLs or links that are substantially similar to the above.
  • Notwithstanding the above, we do not prohibit:
    • Cross promotion that is not triggered by payment to a third party
    • Transferring admin or moderation responsibilities for a page or group to another user based on their interest in the page or group, rather than an exchange of value.
    • Posting or sharing clearly identified Branded Content.
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.

Data
Prevalence

Percentage of times people saw violating content

Content actioned

Number of pieces of violating content we took action on

Proactive rate

Percentage of violating content we found before people reported it

Appealed content

Number of pieces of content people appealed after we took action on it

Restored content

Number of pieces of content we restored after we originally took action on it

Prevalence

Percentage of times people saw violating content

Content actioned

Number of pieces of violating content we took action on

Proactive rate

Percentage of violating content we found before people reported it

Appealed content

Number of pieces of content people appealed after we took action on it

Restored content

Number of pieces of content we restored after we originally took action on it

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 spam

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