Policy details

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CHANGE LOG

Change log

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Policy Rationale

We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content, particularly due to cultural background or age.

We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause or for educational or medical reasons. Where appropriate and such intent is clear, we make allowances for the content. For example, while we restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, women actively engaged in breast-feeding and photos of post-mastectomy scarring. We also allow real world art that depicts nudity such as photographs of paintings, sculptures, etc. We default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content.

Under this policy, we remove real photographs and videos of nudity and sexual activity, AI- or computer-generated images of nudity and sexual activity, and digital imagery, regardless of whether it looks “photorealistic” (as in, it looks like a real person). As noted above, we also make careful allowances for real world art and certain medical, educational, and awareness-raising content, and these are detailed in the policy.

Content relating to child nudity is addressed in our Community Standard on Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Nudity.

We do not allow:

  • Imagery, and digital imagery, of adult nudity, if it depicts:
    • Visible genitalia (including when obscured by pubic hair) except when labeled with a sensitive warning screen in a medical or health context (for example, birth giving and after-birth moments, gender confirmation surgery, examination for cancer or other diseases)
    • Visible anuses and/or fully nude close-ups of buttocks except when labeled with a sensitive warning screen in a medical or health context or when edited onto a public figure
    • Uncovered female nipples, except in a breastfeeding, mastectomy, medical, health, or act of protest context
    • Note that we allow all the above in the context of famine, genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity
  • Imagery of adult sexual activity, including:
    • Explicit sexual activity or stimulation
      • Explicit sexual intercourse or oral sex, as indicated by a person’s mouth or genitals entering or in contact with another person's genitals or anus, when at least one person's genitals or anus is visible
      • Explicit stimulation of a person’s genitals or anus, as indicated by stimulation, or the insertion of sex toys into the person’s genitals or anus, when the contact with the genitals or anus is directly visible
    • Implicit sexual activity or stimulation, except when labeled with a sensitive warning screen in a medical, health or sexual wellness context; or when limited to adults, ages 18 years or older in promotional content, recognised fictional images or images with indicators of fiction:
      • Implicit sexual intercourse or oral sex, as indicated by a person’s mouth or genitals entering or in contact with another person's genitals or anus, when the genitals or anus and/or the entry or contact is not directly visible
      • Implicit stimulation of a person’s genitals or anus, as indicated by stimulation, or the placement of sex toys above or insertion of sex toys into the person’s genitals or anus, when the genitals or anus, stimulation, placement, and/or insertion is not directly visible
    • Other sexual activity or stimulation, except when labeled with a sensitive warning screen in a medical or health context, or when limited to adults, ages 18 years or older, promotional content, recognised fictional images or images with indicators of fiction:
      • Erections
      • Presence of by-products of sexual activity
      • Sex toys placed upon or inserted into mouth
      • Stimulation of visible human nipples
      • Squeezing female breasts, defined as a grabbing motion with curved fingers that shows both marks and clear shape change of the breasts. We allow squeezing in breastfeeding contexts.
    • Imagery depicting fetish that involves:
      • Acts that are likely to lead to the death of a person or animal
      • Dismemberment
      • Cannibalism
      • Feces, urine, spit, snot, menstruation or vomit
      • Bestiality
      • Incest
    • Digital imagery of adult sexual activity, except when posted in the context of medical awareness, scientific discourse or discussion of sexual health, or when it meets one of the criteria below and viewing is limited to adults, ages 18 years or older.
  • Extended audio of sexual activity

For the following content, we include a label so that people are aware the content may be sensitive:

  • Imagery, and digital imagery, of visible genitalia, fully nude close-ups of buttocks, or visible anuses, when shared in a medical or health context. This can include, for example:
  • Birth-giving and after-birth giving moments
  • Gender confirmation surgery
  • Self-examination for cancer or other disease
  • Imagery of implicit/other sexual activity or stimulation when shared in a medical or health context
  • Imagery of implicit sexual activity or stimulation in sexual wellness context

For the following content, we limit the ability to view the content to adults, ages 16 and older:

  • Imagery depicting near nudity such as nudity covered only by digital overlay or an opaque object and nudity obscured by see-through clothing
  • Imagery depicting persons making sexual poses, defined as poses simulating sexual activity or where groin, buttock or female breast(s) are in focus (including in real world art and digital imagery)
  • Imagery depicting sex-related activity (including in real world art and digital imagery) such as kissing with visible tongue and sexual or erotic dancing
  • Imagery depicting gestures that signify genitalia, masturbation, oral sex, or sexual intercourse (including in real world art and digital imagery)
  • Imagery depicting logos, screenshots or video clips of known pornographic websites
  • Content that contains sexual audio

For the following content, we limit the ability to view the content to adults, ages 18 and older:

  • Real-world art, where
  • Imagery depicts implicit, explicit, or other sexual activity or stimulation except when posted in the context of medical awareness, scientific discourse or discussion of sexual health
  • Imagery depicts bestiality, provided it is shared neutrally or in condemnation and the people or animals depicted are not real.
  • Implicit/other sexual activity or stimulation in promotional content, recognized fictional images or with indicators of fiction
  • Digital imagery and real world art of adult sexual activity, where:
  • The content was posted in a satirical or humorous context
  • Only body shapes or contours are visible

For the following Community Standards, we require additional information and/or context to enforce:

  • In certain cases, we will allow content that may otherwise violate the Community Standards when it is determined that the content is satirical. Content will only be allowed if the violating elements of the content are being satirized or attributed to something or someone else in order to mock or criticize them.

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 adult nudity and sexual activity

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