Content intended to praise, promote, or aid violent extremist or criminal organizations is not allowed on YouTube. These organizations are not allowed to use YouTube for any purpose, including recruitment.
If you find content that violates this policy, report it. Instructions for reporting violations of our Community Guidelines are available here. If you've found a few videos or comments that you would like to report, you can report the channel.
If you believe anyone is in immediate danger, you should reach out to your local law enforcement agency to report the situation immediately.
What this means for you
If you're posting content
Don’t post content on YouTube if it fits any of the descriptions noted below.
- Content produced by violent extremist, criminal, or terrorist organizations
- Content praising or memorializing prominent terrorist, extremist, or criminal figures in order to encourage others to carry out acts of violence
- Content praising or justifying violent acts carried out by violent extremist, criminal, or terrorist organizations
- Content aimed at recruiting new members to violent extremist, criminal, or terrorist organizations
- Content depicting hostages or posted with the intent to solicit, threaten, or intimidate on behalf of a criminal, extremist, or terrorist organization
- Content that depicts the insignia, logos, or symbols of violent extremist, criminal, or terrorist organizations in order to praise or promote them
- Content that glorifies or promotes violent tragedies, such as school shootings
YouTube relies on many factors, including government and international organization designations, to determine what constitutes criminal or terrorist organizations. For example, we terminate any channel where we have reasonable belief that the account holder is a member of a designated terrorist organization, such as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (U.S.), or organization identified by the United Nations.
If posting content related to terrorism or crime for an educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic purpose, be mindful to provide enough information in the video or audio itself so viewers understand the context. Graphic or controversial footage with sufficient context may be subject to age-restrictions or a warning screen.
This policy applies to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams, and any other YouTube product or feature. Keep in mind that this isn't a complete list. Please note these policies also apply to external links in your content. This can include clickable URLs, verbally directing users to other sites in video, as well as other forms.
Examples
Here are some examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube.
- Raw and unmodified reuploads of content created by terrorist, criminal, or extremist organizations
- Celebrating terrorist leaders or their crimes in songs or memorials
- Celebrating terrorist or criminal organizations in songs or memorials
- Content directing users to sites that espouse terrorist ideology, are used to disseminate prohibited content, or are used for recruitment
- Footage filmed by the perpetrator during a deadly or major violent event, in which weapons, violence, or injured victims are visible or audible
- Links to external sites that contain manifestos of violent attackers
- Video game content which has been developed or modified (“moddedâ€) to glorify a violent event, its perpetrators, or support violent criminal or terrorist organizations
- Glorifying violence against civilians
- Fundraising for violent criminal, extremist, or terrorist organizations
Please remember these are just some examples, and don't post content if you think it might violate this policy.
What happens if content violates this policy
If your content violates this policy, we'll remove the content and send you an email to let you know.
If this is your first time violating our Community Guidelines, you'll likely get a warning. If it’s not, we may issue a strike against your channel. If you get 3 strikes within 90 days, your channel will be terminated. You can learn more about our strikes system here.
Violations may result in monetization being disabled on any of your accounts in accordance with our YouTube channel monetization policies. This can include warnings. If you feel this is a mistake, you can appeal. If the violation is overturned, you can apply for monetization once you're eligible in YouTube Studio.
We may terminate your channel or account for repeated violations of the Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. We may also terminate your channel or account after a single case of severe abuse, or when the channel is dedicated to a policy violation. We may prevent repeat offenders from taking policy trainings in the future. Learn more about channel or account terminations.