Hate speech is not allowed on YouTube. We remove content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on any of the following attributes:
- Age
- Caste
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Gender Identity and Expression
- Nationality
- Race
- Immigration Status
- Religion
- Sex/Gender
- Sexual Orientation
- Victims of a major violent event and their kin
- Veteran Status
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.
What this policy means for you
If you're posting content
Don’t post content on YouTube if the purpose of that content is to do one or more of the following.
- Encourage violence against individuals or groups based on any of the attributes noted above. We don’t allow threats on YouTube, and we treat implied calls for violence as real threats. You can learn more about our policies on threats and harassment.
- Incite hatred against individuals or groups based on any of the attributes noted above.
Other types of content that violates this policy
- Dehumanizing individuals or groups by calling them subhuman, comparing them to animals, insects, pests, disease, or any other non-human entity.
- Praise or glorify violence against individuals or groups based on the attributes noted above.
- Use of racial, religious or other slurs and stereotypes that incite or promote hatred based on any of the attributes noted above. This can take the form of speech, text, or imagery promoting these stereotypes or treating them as factual.
- Claim that individuals or groups are physically or mentally inferior, deficient, or diseased based on any of the attributes noted above. This includes statements that one group is less than another, calling them less intelligent, less capable, or damaged.
- Allege the superiority of a group over those with any of the attributes noted above to justify violence, discrimination, segregation, or exclusion.
- Conspiracy theories saying individuals or groups are evil, corrupt, or malicious based on any of the attributes noted above.
- Call for the subjugation or domination over individuals or groups based on any of the attributes noted above.
- Deny or minimize a well-documented, major violent event or the victimhood of such an event.
- Attacks on a person’s emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to another person.
- Content containing hateful supremacist propaganda including the recruitment of new members or requests for financial support for their ideology.
- Music videos promoting hateful supremacism in the lyrics, metadata, or imagery.
Educational content
We may allow content that includes hate speech if the primary purpose is educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic in nature. This is not a pass to promote hate speech. Examples include:
- A documentary about a hate group: Educational content that isn’t supporting the group or promoting ideas would be allowed. A documentary promoting violence or hatred wouldn’t be allowed.
- A documentary about the scientific study of humans: A documentary about how theories have changed over time, even if it includes theories about the inferiority or superiority of specific groups, would be allowed because it’s educational. We won’t allow a documentary claiming there's scientific evidence today that an individual or group is inferior or subhuman.
- Historical footage of an event, like WWII, which doesn't promote violence or hatred.
This policy applies to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams, and any other YouTube product or feature. 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.
For educational content that includes hate speech, this context must appear in the images or audio of the video itself. Providing it in the title or description is insufficient.
Monetization and other penalties
In some rare cases, we may remove content or issue other penalties when a creator:
- Repeatedly encourages abusive audience behavior.
- Repeatedly targets, insults and abuses a group based on the attributes noted above across multiple uploads.
- Exposes a group with attributes noted above to risks of physical harm based on the local social or political context.
- Creates content that harms the YouTube ecosystem by persistently inciting hostility against a group with attributes noted above for personal financial gain.
Examples
Here are examples of hate speech not allowed on YouTube.
- “I’m glad this [violent event] happened. They got what they deserved [referring to persons with the attributes noted above].”
- “[Person with attributes noted above] are dogs” or “[person with attributes noted above] are like animals.”
More examples
- “Get out there and punch a [person with attributes noted above].”
- “Everyone in [groups with attributes noted above] is criminals and thugs.”
- “[Person with attributes noted above] is scum of the earth.”
- “[People with attributes noted above] are a disease.”
- “[People with attributes noted above] are less intelligent than us because their brains are smaller.”
- “[Group with any of the attributes noted above] threaten our existence, so we should drive them out at every chance we get.”
- “[Group with any of the attributes noted above] has an agenda to run the world and get rid of us.”
- “[Attribute noted above] is just a form of mental illness that needs to be cured.”
- “[Person with any of the attributes noted above] shouldn't be educated in schools because they shouldn't be educated at all.”
- “All of the so-called victims of this violent event are actors. No one was hurt, and this is just a false flag.”
- “People died in the event, but a truly insignificant number.”
- Shouting “[people with attributes noted above] are pests!” at someone regardless of whether the person does or does not have the alleged attributes
- Video game content which has been developed or modified (“modded”) to promote violence or hatred against a group with any of the attributes noted above.
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 we can’t verify that a link you post is safe, we may remove the link.
If this is your first time violating our Community Guidelines, you’ll likely get a warning with no penalty to your channel. 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.
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. You can learn more about channel or account terminations here.
If we think your content comes close to hate speech, we may limit YouTube features available for that content. You can learn more about limited features here.