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Change log
Change log
Current version
We believe that people use their voice and connect more freely when they don't feel attacked on the basis of who they are. That is why we don't allow hate speech on Facebook. It creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.
We define hate speech as a direct attack against people – rather than concepts or institutions – on the basis of what we call protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease. We define attacks as violent or dehumanising speech, harmful stereotypes, statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or dismissal, cursing and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanising comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate or exclude specific groups, and that are often linked with offline violence. We consider age a protected characteristic when referenced along with another protected characteristic. We also protect refugees, migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks, though we do allow commentary and criticism of immigration policies. Similarly, we provide some protections for characteristics such as occupation, when they're referenced along with a protected characteristic. Sometimes, based on local nuance, we consider certain words or phrases as frequently used proxies for PC groups.
We also prohibit the usage of slurs that are used to attack people on the basis of their protected characteristics. However, we recognise that people sometimes share content that includes slurs or someone else's hate speech to condemn it or raise awareness. In other cases, speech, including slurs, that might otherwise violate our standards can be used self-referentially or in an empowering way. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of speech, but we require people to clearly indicate their intent. If the intention is unclear, we may remove content.
Tier 1
Content targeting a person or group of people (including all groups except those who are considered non-protected groups described as having carried out violent crimes or sexual offences or representing less than half of a group) on the basis of their aforementioned protected characteristic(s) or immigration status with:
Tier 2
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with:
Tier 3
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with any of the following:
Content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words that are inherently offensive and used as insulting labels for the above characteristics.
Do not post:
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 satirised or attributed to something or someone else in order to mock or criticise them.
See some examples of what enforcement looks like for people on Facebook, such as: what it looks like to report something that you don't think should be on Facebook, to be told that 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.
Percentage of times that people saw violating content
Number of pieces of violating content that we took action on
Percentage of violating content that we found before people reported it
Number of pieces of content that people appealed after we took action on it
Number of pieces of content that we restored after we originally took action on it
Percentage of times that people saw violating content
Number of pieces of violating content that we took action on
Percentage of violating content that we found before people reported it
Number of pieces of content that people appealed after we took action on it
Number of pieces of content that we restored after we originally took action on it
We have an option to report, whether it's on a post, a comment, a story, a message or something else.
We help people report things that they don't think should be on our platform.
We ask people to tell us more about what's wrong. This helps us send the report to the right place.
After these steps, we submit the report. We also lay out what people should expect next.
After we've reviewed the report, we'll send the reporting user a notification.
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.
If people think we made the wrong decision, they can request another review.
We'll send a final response after we've re-reviewed the content, again to the Support Inbox.
When someone posts something that violates our Community Standards, we'll tell them.
We'll also address common misperceptions around enforcement.
We'll give people easy-to-understand explanations about why their content was removed.
After we've established the context for our decision and explained our policy, we'll ask people what they'd like to do next, including letting us know if they think we made a mistake.
If people disagree with the decision, we'll ask them to tell us more.
Here, we set expectations on what will happen next.
We have the same policies around the world, for everyone on Facebook.
Our global team of over 15,000 reviewers work every day to keep people on Facebook safe.
Outside experts, academics, NGOs and policymakers help inform the Facebook Community Standards.
Learn what you can do if you see something on Facebook that goes against our Community Standards.