Community Guidelines
Updated: January 2023
At Snap, we contribute to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. We created these Community Guidelines to support our mission by encouraging the broadest range of self-expression, while making sure Snapchatters can use our services safely every day. We intend for these Guidelines to be clear and understandable for all members of our community.
These Guidelines apply to all content (which includes all forms of communication, like text, images, links or attachments, emojis, Lenses and other creative tools) or behavior on Snapchat — and to all Snapchatters, equally. Advertisers and media partners in Discover agree to additional guidelines, including the requirement that their content is accurate and, where appropriate, fact-checked, and developers also will be subject to additional rules. In certain cases, we won’t take action against content when it is newsworthy, factual, and relates to a matter of political, social, or other general concern to our community.
We've outlined here and in our Terms of Service specific rules for content that is prohibited on Snapchat, and we work to ensure these rules are applied consistently. But it's hard to anticipate every situation that might come up. To help guide the responsible use of Snap’s services, we provide additional explanations that are hyperlinked in each of the sections below.
We want Snapchat to be a safe and positive experience for everyone. We reserve the right to decide, at our sole discretion, what content or behavior violates the spirit of our rules.
Sexual Content
- We prohibit promoting, distributing, or sharing pornographic content. We also don’t allow commercial activities that relate to pornography or sexual interactions (whether online or offline). Breastfeeding and other depictions of nudity in non-sexual contexts are generally permitted.
- We prohibit any activity that involves sexual exploitation or abuse of a minor, including sharing child sexual exploitation or abuse imagery, grooming, or sexual extortion (sextortion). We report all instances of child sexual exploitation to authorities, including attempts to engage in such conduct. Never post, save, send, forward, distribute, or ask for nude or sexually explicit content involving anyone under the age of 18 (this includes sending or saving such images of yourself).
- For more information about sexual conduct and content that violates our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Harassment & Bullying
- We prohibit bullying or harassment of any kind. This extends to all forms of sexual harassment, including sending unwanted sexually explicit, suggestive, or nude images to other users. If someone blocks you, you may not contact them from another account.
- Sharing another person’s private information, or images of a person in a private space — like a bathroom, bedroom, locker room, or medical facility — without their knowledge and consent is disallowed.
- If someone is depicted in your Snap and asks you to remove it, please do! Respect the privacy rights of others. Please also do not harass another Snapchatter by abusing our reporting mechanisms, such as intentionally reporting content that is permissible.For more information about bullying and harassment that violates our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Threats, Violence & Harm
- Encouraging or engaging in violent or dangerous behavior is prohibited. Never intimidate or threaten to harm a person, a group of people, or someone’s property.
- Snaps of gratuitous or graphic violence, including animal abuse, are not allowed.
- We don’t allow the glorification of self-harm, including the promotion of self-injury, suicide or eating disorders.
- For more information about threats, violence, and harm that violate our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Harmful False or Deceptive Information
- We prohibit spreading false information that causes harm or is malicious, such as denying the existence of tragic events, unsubstantiated medical claims, undermining the integrity of civic processes, or manipulating content for false or misleading purposes.
- We prohibit pretending to be someone (or something) that you’re not, or attempting to deceive people about who you are. This includes impersonating your friends, celebrities, public figures, brands, or other organizations for harmful, non-satirical purposes.
- We prohibit spam and deceptive practices, including imitating Snapchat or Snap Inc.
- For more information about harmful false or deceptive content that violates our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Illegal or Regulated Activities
- Don’t use Snapchat for any illegal activity. This includes promoting, facilitating, or participating in criminal activity, such as buying, selling, exchanging, or facilitating sales of illegal or regulated drugs, contraband (such as child sexual abuse or exploitation imagery), weapons, or counterfeit goods or documents. It also includes promoting or facilitating any form of exploitation, including human trafficking or sex trafficking.
- We prohibit the illegal promotion of regulated goods or industries, including unauthorized promotion of gambling, tobacco or vape products, and alcohol.
- For more information about prohibited illegal or regulated activities that violate our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Hateful Content, Terrorism, and Violent Extremism
- Terrorist organizations, violent extremists, and hate groups are prohibited from using our platform. We have no tolerance for content that advocates or advances terrorism or violent extremism.
- Hate speech or content that demeans, defames, or promotes discrimination or violence on the basis of race, color, caste, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, immigration status, socio-economic status, age, weight, or pregnancy status is prohibited.
- For more information about hateful content, terrorism, and violent extremism that violates our Community Guidelines, please review this explainer.
Please remember that you can always submit a report to our Trust & Safety team using our in-app reporting features or by completing this form (whether you have a Snapchat account or not). We review these reports to determine violations of these Guidelines. Please visit our Safety Center for more information about safety at Snapchat. There, you’ll find detailed instructions on managing your Snapchat experience, including taking actions like updating your privacy settings, choosing who can see your content, and blocking other users.
If you violate these Community Guidelines, we may remove the offending content, terminate or limit the visibility of your account, and/or notify law enforcement. We engage with global law enforcement when activity poses a threat to human life. If your account is terminated for violating these Guidelines, you are not allowed to use Snapchat again.
Snap reserves the right to remove or restrict account access for users whom we have reason to believe, in our sole discretion, pose a danger to others, on or off of Snapchat. These include leaders of hate groups and terrorist organizations, individuals with a reputation for inciting violence, perpetrating severe harms against others, or behavior that we believe poses a threat to human life.
Please take these Guidelines seriously and honor them in the spirit in which they are intended.