Hate speech

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:

• Violent speech or support in written or visual form
• Dehumanising speech or imagery in the form of comparisons, generalisations or unqualified behavioural statements (in written or visual form) to or about:
  • Insects (including but not limited to: cockroaches, locusts)
  • Animals in general or specific types of animals that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior (including but not limited to: Black people and apes or ape-like creatures; Jewish people and rats; Muslim people and pigs; Mexican people and worms)
  • Filth (including but not limited to: dirt, grime)
  • Bacteria, viruses or microbes
  • Disease (including but not limited to: cancer, sexually transmitted diseases)
  • Faeces (including but not limited to: shit, crap)
  • Subhumanity (including but not limited to: savages, devils, monsters, primitives)
  • Sexual predators (including but not limited to: Muslim people having sex with goats or pigs)
  • Violent criminals (including but not limited to: terrorists, murderers, members of hate or criminal organisations)
  • Other criminals (including, but not limited to, "thieves", "bank robbers" or saying "All [protected characteristic or quasi-protected characteristic] are 'criminals'").
  • Certain objects (women as household objects, property or objects in general; Black people as farm equipment; transgender or non-binary people as "it")
  • Statements denying existence (including but not limited to: "[protected characteristic(s) or quasi-protected characteristic] do not exist", "no such thing as [protected charactic(s) or quasi-protected characteristic]")
  • Harmful stereotypes historically linked to intimidation, exclusion or violence on the basis of a protected characteristic, such as Blackface; Holocaust denial; claims that Jewish people control financial, political or media institutions; and references to Dalits as menial labourers
• Mocking the concept, events or victims of hate crimes even if no real person is depicted in an image.

Tier 2

Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with:

• Generalisations that state inferiority (in written or visual form) in the following ways:
  • Physical deficiencies are defined as those about:
    • Hygiene, including, but not limited to: filthy, dirty, smelly.
    • Physical appearance, including, but not limited to: ugly, hideous.
  • Mental deficiencies are defined as those about:
    • Intellectual capacity, including, but not limited to: dumb, stupid, idiots.
    • Education, including, but not limited to: illiterate, uneducated.
    • Mental health, including, but not limited to: mentally ill, retarded, crazy, insane.
  • Moral deficiencies are defined as those about:
    • Character traits culturally perceived as negative, including, but not limited to: coward, liar, arrogant, ignorant.
    • Derogatory terms related to sexual activity, including, but not limited to: whore, slut, perverts.

• Other statements of inferiority, which we define as:
  • Expressions about being less than adequate, including, but not limited to: worthless, useless.
  • Expressions about being better/worse than another protected characteristic, including, but not limited to: "I believe that males are superior to females."
  • Expressions about deviating from the norm, including, but not limited to: freaks, abnormal.

• Expressions of contempt (in written or visual form), which we define as:
  • Self-admission to intolerance on the basis of protected characteristics, including, but not limited to: homophobic, islamophobic, racist.
  • Expressions that a protected characteristic shouldn't exist.
  • Expressions of hate, including, but not limited to: despise, hate.

• Expressions of dismissal, including, but not limited to: don't respect, don't like, don't care for

• Expressions of disgust (in written or visual form), which we define as:
  • Expressions suggesting that the target causes sickness, including, but not limited to: vomit, throw up.
  • Expressions of repulsion or distaste, including, but not limited to: vile, disgusting, yuck.

• Cursing, except certain gender-based cursing in a romantic break-up context, defined as:
  • Referring to the target as genitalia or anus, including, but not limited to: cunt, dick, asshole.
  • Profane terms or phrases with the intent to insult, including, but not limited to: fuck, bitch, motherfucker.
  • Terms or phrases calling for engagement in sexual activity, or contact with genitalia, anus, faeces or urine, including, but not limited to: suck my dick, kiss my ass, eat shit.

Tier 3

Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with any of the following:

• Segregation in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting segregation.
• Exclusion in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting, defined as
  • Explicit exclusion, which means things such as expelling certain groups or saying they are not allowed.
  • Political exclusion, which means denying the right to political participation.
  • Economic exclusion, which means denying access to economic entitlements and limiting participation in the labour market.
  • Social exclusion, which means things such as denying access to spaces (physical and online) and social services, except for gender-based exclusion in health and positive support groups.

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:

• Content explicitly providing or offering to provide products or services that aim to change people's sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Content attacking concepts, institutions, ideas, practices or beliefs associated with protected characteristics, which are likely to contribute to imminent physical harm, intimidation or discrimination against the people associated with that protected characteristic. Facebook looks at a range of signs to determine whether there is a threat of harm in the content. These include, but are not limited to: content that could incite imminent violence or intimidation; whether there is a period of heightened tension such as an election or ongoing conflict; and whether there is a recent history of violence against the targeted protected group. In some cases, we may also consider whether the speaker is a public figure or occupies a position of authority.
• Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with claims that they have or spread the novel coronavirus, are responsible for the existence of the novel coronavirus or are deliberately spreading the novel coronavirus, or mocking them for having or experiencing the novel coronavirus.

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.