# Learning and support

Learning and support aims for the standard of a learning, research or support community, where difficult subjects have to be discussed openly. It allows history, reporting, teaching and support across its categories and fictional violence, crime and harassment, limits one-off insults, age-restricts graphic violence in history, reporting or teaching, and keeps actionable harm and adult sexual content blocked.

The rules every built-in policy shares are listed in [Built-in policies](/docs/guides/built-in-policies#what-every-built-in-policy-shares).

## 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| Wholly historical content                                                 | Allow, unless a restriction applies |
| Wholly educational content                                                | Allow, unless a restriction applies |

## Sexual content

- **Sexual text**, including descriptions of nudity or sexual acts, is blocked outside the contexts above.
- **Explicit sexual language**, such as graphic sexual descriptions, is blocked even in reporting, support or a lesson.
- **Adult nudity in images or video** is blocked unless it is non-erotic, even in reporting, discussion or support. **Sexual activity in images or video** is blocked outside the contexts above. Revealing clothing or suggestive content in the same image never excuses them.
- **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.
- **Promotion of adult content** is blocked.
- **Sexual-assault images and video**, including realistic simulated depictions, are blocked even in reporting, education or support. Text reporting and survivor accounts keep the context allowances above.
- **Offers or requests for sexual services or encounters** are blocked. Criminal activity allows them, but the Sexual restriction blocks them.

## Violence

- **Graphic violence** is age-restricted when it is wholly historical, reporting or educational, and blocked otherwise.
- **Footage showing the act of decapitating a real person** is blocked even in reporting, history or teaching. A textual account, a fictional scene or a still showing only the aftermath is not this rule; graphic aftermath follows the graphic-violence rule above.
- **Fictional, historical and educational violence** and reporting of violence are allowed.

## Self-harm

- **Someone sharing their own suicidal or self-harm thoughts**, such as saying they want to die, is allowed, so they are not silenced when they most need support. Consider showing support resources alongside it.
- **Self-harm acts** are allowed when wholly reported, historical, educational or presented for support, and blocked otherwise.
- **Self-harm methods and encouragement** are blocked in every context.

## Harassment and hate

- **Insults** aimed at a person, or at a group that is not a protected identity group, including swearing at someone to dismiss or attack them, are limited: delivered normally, so your app can keep them out of recommendations and notifications. They are allowed in fiction, history, reporting, teaching or support.
- **Bullying, threats and sexual harassment** are blocked outside fiction, history, reporting, teaching or support, even when they are also teasing or aimed at a public figure.
- **Hate** is allowed when it is wholly historical, reported, educational, presented for support or countered.
- **Stated hatred** of a protected group with no slur, insult, stereotype, dehumanization, exclusion or threat, such as saying you hate them, is allowed.
- **Identity-based insults and slurs** on their own are limited, as insults aimed at a person are.
- **Dehumanization, inferiority claims or harmful stereotypes, exclusion and threats** against a protected group are blocked by four Hate restrictions, even alongside an insult, slur or stated hatred that is otherwise limited or allowed. Each restriction makes an exception for history, reporting, teaching, support and counterspeech, so a lesson or report that quotes such an attack is allowed when its context covers it.

## Criminal activity

- **Depicted or reported crimes**, such as a fight or a robbery, follow the Violence rules above rather than being blocked again under Criminal activity. Criminal instructions, promotion, plans and requests are blocked.
- **Illegal-drug content**, such as a mention or account of drug use, is allowed. Selling drugs, promoting them and instructions stay blocked as criminal promotion and instructions.
- **Alcohol, tobacco/vaping and gambling** are allowed. Other crime in the same content follows its own rules.
- **Child sexual abuse material**: a bare mention is allowed, and so is a factual report, history, teaching, support or non-graphic discussion of an offence involving it, such as a news report of a conviction for possessing it. Any other account of such an offence, including in a story, is blocked, as are requests, plans and promotion. Sexual content involving a child is blocked in every context as a [global mandatory rule](/docs/guides/mandatory-rules).

## Personal information and profanity

- **Someone’s own private details** are allowed.
- **Other people’s private details** are blocked, even in a report.
- **Profanity** is not moderated.

## Links

[Link safety](/docs/guides/link-safety) is in preview. Phishing and malware links are blocked, and so are links to adult sites. Links to gambling sites and short links that can't be followed are allowed. Where a link leads never changes a category's score.

## Choose another policy if

- Your community also shares adult content for verified adults: use [General](/docs/guides/built-in-policies/general).
- Your learners include children: use [Kids](/docs/guides/built-in-policies/kids), or [Teen-safe](/docs/guides/built-in-policies/teen-safe) for members from 13.