Meta Community Standards

Meta removes content that constitutes a credible threat of violence against individuals or groups, content that incites or facilitates violence, and statements of intent to commit violence. This includes threats targeting specific individuals, calls for violence against people based on protected characteristics, and coded language that is commonly understood as a call to violence in context. Conditional and aspirational threats are also prohibited.

Meta prohibits the presence of organizations or individuals who proclaim a violent mission, are engaged in violence, or have demonstrated a pattern of violent behavior. This includes terrorist organizations, hate groups, mass murderers, serial killers, and criminal organizations. Content that praises, supports, or represents these entities is removed, along with their official accounts and pages.

Meta prohibits content that facilitates, organizes, or promotes criminal activity that causes harm to people, businesses, or animals. This includes content that coordinates or promotes vandalism, burglary, theft, and other property crimes, as well as content that facilitates the sale of regulated goods like firearms and drugs where such transactions violate applicable law.

Meta prohibits the sale, purchase, or trade of certain regulated goods and services on its platforms. This includes firearms, ammunition, explosives, drugs, pharmaceutical products without a prescription, endangered animal parts, and human organs or blood. Listings for these items are removed regardless of the legality of the transaction in the seller's jurisdiction to ensure consistent global enforcement.

Meta removes content that promotes, encourages, or provides instructions for suicide or self-injury. However, Meta recognizes that people may share their experiences with these issues to seek support, and therefore allows content that shares personal struggles as long as it does not promote or glorify self-harm. Meta partners with mental health organizations worldwide to provide resources and support to users who may be at risk.

Meta has zero tolerance for content that sexually exploits children. This includes the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), solicitation of minors for sexual purposes, and inappropriate interactions with children. Meta uses photo and video matching technology to detect known CSAM, and reports all identified instances to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Meta also prohibits content that depicts nudity of minors.

Meta prohibits content that facilitates sexual exploitation of adults, including non-consensual intimate imagery (often called 'revenge porn'), sextortion, and the distribution of intimate images without consent. Content that shares, offers, or solicits non-consensual intimate images is immediately removed. Meta provides tools for victims to prevent the re-sharing of their images across Meta platforms.

Meta does not tolerate bullying or harassment on its platforms. This includes repeated unwanted contact, targeted attacks on private individuals, degrading or shaming content, and threats to release private information (doxxing). Meta provides elevated protections for minors, private adults, and other individuals who may be particularly vulnerable to online harassment. Public figures face different standards given the public interest in their activities.

Meta prohibits content that facilitates human trafficking, forced labor, domestic servitude, sex trafficking, and other forms of human exploitation. This includes recruitment content, content that depicts trafficking victims, and content that coordinates or facilitates the movement of people for exploitative purposes. Meta works with NGOs, law enforcement, and other stakeholders to combat human exploitation.

Meta prohibits the sharing of personally identifiable information (PII) that could lead to real-world harm. This includes posting someone's home address, financial account information, government-issued ID numbers, medical records, or other private information without consent. Content that threatens to expose private information or that aggregates publicly available information for the purpose of harassment is also removed.

Meta defines hate speech as direct attacks on people based on protected characteristics including race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease. Attacks include dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, calls for exclusion or segregation, and slurs. Meta removes hate speech content and takes action against accounts that repeatedly violate this policy.

Meta removes content that depicts extreme violence or gore, including dismemberment, visible innards, charred bodies, and real-world suffering. Content depicting violence may be allowed with a warning screen when it is shared to raise awareness, condemned by the poster, or is newsworthy. Meta considers the public interest and informational value of such content when making enforcement decisions.

Meta restricts the display of nudity and sexual activity across its platforms. This includes photographs and digital imagery of real nude adults, sexual intercourse, and genitalia. Exceptions are made for nudity in the context of breastfeeding, health-related situations such as post-mastectomy photos, and acts of protest. Artistic nudity in paintings and sculptures is generally permitted.

Meta prohibits content that explicitly or implicitly offers or requests sexual services. This includes escort services, paid sexual content or companionship, and fetish or sexual role play. Content that coordinates sexual encounters between adults in private is also restricted. The policy aims to prevent the platforms from being used to facilitate sexual exploitation or prostitution.

Meta requires users to use their authentic identity on Facebook and to maintain only one personal account. Fake accounts, impersonation accounts, and accounts representing fictional entities as real people are removed. On Instagram, accounts do not need to use real names, but impersonation of real people or organizations is prohibited. Meta uses automated systems and user reports to detect and remove inauthentic accounts.

Meta works to limit the spread of spam to prevent deceptive practices and to protect users from malicious content. Spam includes bulk messaging, excessive posting of links, and manipulation of engagement metrics through fake likes, shares, or comments. Meta also prohibits artificially boosting the popularity of content or accounts through coordinated inauthentic engagement, purchased followers, or automated activity.

Meta prohibits attempts to compromise the security of its platforms, user accounts, or data. This includes phishing attacks targeting Meta users, distribution of malware through the platform, unauthorized access to accounts, and the exploitation of vulnerabilities in Meta's systems. Meta maintains a bug bounty program that rewards security researchers who responsibly disclose vulnerabilities.

Meta prohibits coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB), which is defined as the use of fake accounts or networks of accounts to manipulate public discourse, mislead people about who is behind a campaign, or artificially amplify content. This includes state-sponsored influence operations, astroturfing campaigns, and coordinated efforts to manipulate elections or public opinion. Meta publishes regular reports on CIB networks it has disrupted.

Meta reduces the distribution of misinformation that could contribute to real-world harm. This includes false claims about health and safety, interference with civic processes, and conspiracy theories that incite violence. Meta works with independent third-party fact-checkers to review and rate the accuracy of content. Content rated as false is labeled, has its distribution reduced, and users who attempt to share it are shown additional context.

Meta allows memorialization of accounts belonging to deceased users, converting them to memorial accounts upon verified request from family members or verified legacy contacts. Memorialized accounts display a 'Remembering' label, and no one can log into a memorialized account. Meta also honors requests to remove a deceased person's account when made by verified immediate family members or authorized representatives.