Facebook has developed a detailed set of Community Standards that outline what is and is not allowed on the platform. These rules are designed to help encourage meaningful and authentic conversations while prohibiting harmful, deceptive, and unlawful content.
Why does Facebook have Community Standards?
Facebook created its Community Standards to help balance free expression with safety. The goal is to give people a voice while prohibiting content like bullying, harassment, and other abusive behaviors. The standards apply to everyone using Facebook, including private groups and messaging.
Who writes and enforces Facebook’s rules?
Facebook employs thousands of content moderators around the world who review reported posts and determine if they violate policies. The company also uses artificial intelligence to proactively detect policy-breaking content. Members of Facebook’s policy team develop the Community Standards based on input from various teams and outside advisers.
How are the Community Standards organized?
The standards are divided into six high-level categories:
- Violence and Criminal Behavior
- Safety
- Objectionable Content
- Integrity and Authenticity
- Respecting Intellectual Property
- Content-Related Requests
Each category contains specific rules and definitions. For example, the Violence and Criminal Behavior section prohibits threats, hate speech, and more.
What are Facebook’s rules around graphic violence?
Facebook removes content that glorifies violence or celebrates the suffering of others. This includes images, videos, or text shared for sadistic pleasure or to normalize violence. Exceptions may be made for violence in satire, news, or self-defense contexts.
Specific policies prohibit:
- Imagery of dying, wounded, or deceased people if shared maliciously.
- Videos of physical bullying or violence against minors.
- Instructions for making weapons to seriously injure or kill.
Some graphic content may be permitted if raising awareness of issues. However, Facebook may place restrictions if deemed gratuitous.
What types of threats are prohibited?
Facebook bans credible threats that could lead to death or serious injury. This includes threats against public figures, private individuals, groups, and places. The platform also prohibits statements of a desire to kill or injure someone, unless clearly hyperbolic or humorous.
Users cannot use Facebook to organize or promote violence against people based on protected characteristics like race, religion, or sexual orientation. Certain threats made by criminals like terrorists, traffickers, and organized hate groups are not allowed.
How does Facebook handle bullying and harassment?
Facebook does not tolerate bullying, intimidation, or harassment. This includes:
- Pages created to target private individuals maliciously.
- Sharing personal information to blackmail or harass.
- Calls for self-injury or suicide of a specific person.
- Posting statements meant to shame private individuals.
The rules aim to allow legitimate political debate while protecting users from harm. Context matters when evaluating potential harassment.
What are Facebook’s policies around hate speech?
Facebook removes hate speech targeting people based on protected characteristics like race, gender identity, serious disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, and immigration status.
This includes content that:
- Dehumanizes or calls for exclusion or segregation.
- Endorses white nationalism or white separatism.
- Denies the Holocaust or other genocides.
- Attacks immigrants or asylum seekers as inferior.
Facebook allows criticism of institutions, ideas, ideologies, and leaders. However, attacks against people due to protected characteristics violates standards.
How does Facebook handle sensitive content about minors?
Facebook aims to prevent harm and exploitation of minors on its platforms. Policies include:
- Prohibiting sexualization of minors or content depicting child nudity.
- Removing private communications soliciting sexual material from minors.
- Banning minors from dating apps and limiting ads for these apps.
- Not allowing content promoting sexual contact between adults and minors.
Facebook also removes misinformation about child exploitation and may restrict hashtags used to identify inappropriate imagery of minors.
What rules exist around sexual content?
Facebook restricts sexually explicit content to prevent abuse but allows consensual sexual expression. Policies include:
- Prohibiting nude photos or videos of people shared without consent.
- Removing depictions of sexual acts except in educational or artistic contexts.
- Banning digital content promoting escort services and solicitation.
- Restricting sexually explicit language targeting private individuals.
Content depicting breasts and anatomy commonly associated with breastfeeding and health education is generally allowed. Rules aim to find the right balance for a diverse community.
How does Facebook handle regulated goods?
Facebook prohibits attempts by users to purchase, sell, or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana. This includes content that:
- Coordinates or promotes sales of illegal or prescription drugs.
- Depicts, admits to, or promotes drug use outside of recovery contexts.
- Offers services around pharmaceutical sales or substance use treatment.
- Advertises drug-related paraphernalia like syringes or bongs.
Facebook also bans content facilitating the private sale of firearms, including guns, parts, and ammunition. Sales by licensed dealers may be allowed.
What are the rules around scams and fraud?
Facebook aims to disrupt financial scams and fraudulent activity. This includes prohibiting:
- Misrepresenting identity or company to deceive people.
- Using deceptive claims to collect money or information.
- Impersonating others to trick or exploit.
- Coordinating or recruiting for financial scams.
- Advertising fake documents like passports or social security cards.
Facebook also bans phishing attempts, malware distribution, and sharing hacked user credentials or credit card information.
How does Facebook handle false news and misinformation?
Facebook works to fight false news and misinformation by:
- Labeling and demoting links marked as false by fact-checkers.
- Reducing distribution of misinformation during breaking news.
- Removing manipulated media likely to mislead.
- Adding pop-ups to debunk viral misinformation.
- Boosting distribution of authoritative information.
However, inaccurate content alone does not violate policies unless it contributes to imminent violence or physical harm. Censoring misinformation raises concerns around free expression.
What rules exist around impersonation?
Facebook aims to prevent impersonation and confusion. Users cannot:
- Pretend to be a person or entity to deceive or confuse.
- Create a profile assuming someone’s identity without consent.
- Share content impersonating someone to mock or confuse.
- Claim to represent an organization without authorization.
Parody accounts are allowed if clearly satirical and not misleading. Pages must accurately represent their true identities and purposes.
How does Facebook handle content-related requests?
Facebook complies with valid requests from legal authorities, individuals, and rights holders around content removal and access restrictions. This includes:
- Restricting content deemed illegal by authorities, as consistent with law.
- Globally restricting access to content per local laws.
- Removing content that infringes intellectual property rights.
- Providing law enforcement with limited account data per legal process.
Facebook reviews government and court orders for validity and consistency with policies and applicable laws. Legal requests must meet jurisdictional requirements.
What happens if you violate Facebook’s rules?
If you violate Facebook’s Community Standards, possible consequences include:
- Removing violating posts or disabling accounts either temporarily or permanently.
- Reducing reach of violating Pages or Groups.
- Limiting ability to monetize or advertise.
- Requiring confirmation of identity for account reinstatement.
- Legal prosecution if crimes committed.
Facebook considers context and severity of violations when enforcing policies. The goal is always to discourage harmful behavior while enabling expression.
How can you appeal if you disagree with an enforcement decision?
If you feel Facebook made a mistake in evaluating content you posted or your account, you can appeal enforcement decisions by:
- Updating the status in Support Inbox to request another review.
- Filing an appeal through the Help Center.
- Submitting a report disputing the decision.
Facebook aims to carefully review all appeals and may overturn decisions if removals were made in error. However, appeals should explain why the content or account should not have been restricted.
Conclusion
Facebook’s Community Standards outline what types of content and behavior are and are not allowed on its platforms. The rules seek to achieve the difficult balance of enabling free expression while curtailing harmful and deceptive behavior. Violating policies can result in content removal or account suspension, though appeals are possible. Understanding Facebook’s guidelines can help you positively engage on the platform while avoiding enforcement actions.