General community
General community aims for the standard of a mainstream social platform with an adult and teenage audience. Discussion, news, fiction, support and criticism of public figures are allowed, adult images and video are age-restricted so your app can show them to verified adults only, and one-off insults are limited rather than removed. It is the policy new projects start with.
The rules every built-in policy shares are listed in Built-in policies.
Context
| Context | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Wholly factual reporting, or support and prevention | Allow, unless a restriction applies |
| Wholly non-graphic discussion under Sexual, Violence or Criminal activity | Allow, unless a restriction applies |
| Wholly fictional Violence or Criminal activity | Allow, unless a restriction applies |
| Wholly historical content | Allow under Violence; block under other categories |
| Wholly educational content | Allow under Hate and Violence; block under other categories |
Sexual content
- Sexual text, including explicit sexual language and descriptions of nudity or sexual acts, is allowed.
- Adult nudity, sexual activity and explicit sexual language in images or video are age-restricted. Erotic nudity and explicit sexual language stay age-restricted even in reporting, discussion or support; sexual activity is age-restricted outside those contexts. Revealing clothing or suggestive content in the same image never excuses them.
- Promotion of adult content, such as a subscription page or explicit media for sale, is age-restricted in images and video and allowed in text.
- Non-erotic nudity, such as breastfeeding, health care, protest or fine art, is allowed.
- Suggestive content, such as flirtation, innuendo, romantic or sexual roleplay, or a sexual joke, is allowed.
- Non-consensual sexual content, such as sexual assault presented as sexual material, is blocked rather than age-restricted, even in fiction, animation or generated images. Factual reports, survivor accounts, support and non-graphic discussion of sexual assault are not sexual content of this kind and keep their allowances.
- Offers or requests for sexual services or encounters are blocked, in text too. Criminal activity allows them, but the Sexual restriction blocks them.
Age-restricted content isn’t served from its plain URL; see Age-restricted assets.
Violence
- Graphic violence, with explicit bodily detail, is age-restricted in reporting, education, history or fiction, and blocked otherwise, such as gore posted to shock.
- Fictional violence, historical accounts and teaching about violence are allowed.
Harassment and hate
- Insults aimed at a person, or at a group that is not a protected identity group, are limited: delivered normally, so your app can keep them out of recommendations and notifications. They are allowed in fiction, reporting or support.
- Bullying, threats and sexual harassment are blocked outside fiction, reporting or support, even when they are also teasing or aimed at a public figure.
- Hate is allowed when it is wholly reported, educational, presented for support or countered. There are no overriding Hate restrictions, so reported, educational or countered exclusion, dehumanization and threats are allowed when the context covers all of them.
Criminal activity
- Alcohol, tobacco/vaping and gambling are allowed when these findings cover the content.
- Child sexual abuse material: a bare mention is allowed; an actual instance is blocked unless a reporting, support or discussion allowance covers it.
Personal information and profanity
- Someone’s own private details are allowed.
- Other people’s private details are allowed in factual reporting, such as court records or a public official’s conduct, and blocked otherwise.
- Profanity is not moderated.
Choose another policy if
- Your users include children: use Children’s platform.
- You want a clean space for members from 13 without profanity, insults or nudity: use Wholesome community.
- Your community studies or supports people through difficult subjects and has no adult content: use Education and support.