User Content and Conduct Policy
Google’s social and sharing products and services enable people from diverse backgrounds to start conversations, share experiences, collaborate on projects, and form new communities. Our policies play an important role in maintaining a positive experience for our users on Currents. Please follow these policies as you use Currents.
We depend heavily upon users to let us know about content that may violate our policies. After we are notified of a potential policy violation, we may review the content and take action, including restricting access to the content, removing the content, refusing to print the content and limiting or terminating a user’s access to Google products. Note that we may make exceptions to these policies based on artistic, educational, or documentary considerations, or when there are other substantial benefits to the public from not taking action.
We occasionally modify these policies, so please check back here for any updates.
- Illegal Activities
Do not use Currents to engage in illegal activities or to promote activities that are dangerous and illegal, such as the sale of illegal drugs or human trafficking.
We may also remove content that violates applicable local laws. To report content that you believe should be removed based on local laws, click here. - Malicious and Deceptive Practices
Do not transmit viruses, malware, or any other malicious or destructive code. Do not distribute content that harms or interferes with the operation of the networks, servers, or other infrastructure of Google or others. Do not use Currents for phishing scams. - Hate Speech
Our products are platforms for free expression, but we don’t permit hate speech. Hate speech is content that promotes or condones violence against or has the primary purpose of inciting hatred against an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization. - Harassment, Bullying, and Threats
Do not engage in harassing, bullying, or threatening behavior, and do not incite others to engage in these activities. Anyone using Currents to single someone out for malicious abuse, to threaten someone with serious harm, to sexualize a person in an unwanted way, or to harass in other ways may have the offending content removed or be permanently banned from using Currents. In emergency situations, we may escalate imminent threats of serious harm to law enforcement. Keep in mind that online harassment is also illegal in many places and can have serious offline consequences for both the harasser and the victim.
Learn more about additional steps that you can take to stop harassment and bullying on Currents. - Personal and Confidential Information
Do not distribute other people’s personal and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, confidential national ID numbers, or account passwords, without their permission. Do not post or distribute images or videos of minors without the necessary consent from their legal representatives. Report a violation - Child Exploitation
Do not upload or share content that exploits or abuses children. This includes all child sexual abuse imagery (even cartoon images) and all content that presents children in a sexual manner. We will remove such content and take appropriate action, which may include disabling accounts and reporting to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement. Note that this policy may additionally apply to any content uploaded or transmitted through our Services.
If you find any content that you think exploits children in this manner, do not +1, reshare or comment on such content, even if your intent is to bring it to Google’s attention. Instead, flag the content through the ‘Report Abuse’ link. If you find content elsewhere on the internet, please contact NCMEC directly. - Spam
Do not spam, including by sending unwanted promotional or commercial content, or unwanted or mass solicitation.
Do not aggressively send invitations, add people to your circles, or message people that you do not know. - Ranking Manipulation
Do not manipulate ranking or relevancy using techniques like repetitive or misleading keywords or metadata. - Sexually Explicit Material
Do not distribute sexually explicit or pornographic material. Do not drive traffic to commercial pornography sites. In addition, do not publish or distribute non-explicit intimate and sexual images or videos without the subject’s consent. If someone has posted a private nude, sexually explicit, or non-explicit intimate and sexual image or video of you, please report it to us here.
We do allow naturalistic and documentary depictions of nudity (such as an image of a breastfeeding infant), as well as depictions of nudity that serve a clear educational, scientific, or artistic purpose.
Note that your Currents profile photo cannot include mature or offensive content. For example, do not use a photo that is a close-up of a person’s buttocks or cleavage. - Violence
It's not okay to post violent or gory content that's primarily intended to be shocking, sensational, or gratuitous. If posting graphic content in a news, documentary, scientific, or artistic context, please be mindful to provide enough information to help people understand what's going on. In some cases, content may be so violent or shocking that no amount of context will allow that content to remain on our platforms. Lastly, don't encourage others to commit specific acts of violence. - Regulated Goods and Services
Currents enable discussion of many topics, but we do not allow content that facilitates the sale of regulated products and services, including alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals and unapproved supplements, tobacco, fireworks, weapons, or health/medical devices.
Because these topics are often heavily regulated and may not be appropriate for all ages or in all countries, we have created tools on Currents to help you target your content to users of the appropriate ages in the right markets. If your content promotes regulated goods and services, you are responsible for applying the appropriate age and geographical restrictions for that content where these tools are available. If we receive a complaint that such content is targeting audiences in violation of applicable laws and regulations, we may remove or restrict the offending content or account.
Even with the appropriate age and geographical restrictions in place, we still do not allow the facilitation of the sale of the products listed above.
Learn more about audience settings on Currents. - Impersonation and misrepresentation
Do not use Currents with the intent to deceive, mislead or confuse users by either impersonating any person or organizations you do not represent, or concealing your ownership or primary purpose. This includes directing content about politics, social issues, or matters of public concern to users in a country other than your own, if you misrepresent or intentionally conceal your country of origin or other material details about yourself. We're not saying you can't publish parody, satire or use a pseudonym/pen name - just avoid content that is likely to mislead readers about your true identity.
Learn more about Impersonation on Currents. - Account Hijacking
Do not access another user’s account without their permission. - Use of Multiple Accounts
Do not create or use multiple accounts to evade our policies or bypass blocks or otherwise subvert restrictions placed on your account. For example, if you’ve been blocked by another user or suspended for abuse, don’t create a replacement account that engages in similar activity. - Terrorist Content
We do not permit terrorist organizations to use Currents for any purpose, including recruitment. Currents also strictly prohibits content related to terrorism, such as content that promotes terrorist acts, incites violence, or celebrates terrorist attacks.
If posting content related to terrorism for an educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic purpose, be mindful to provide enough information so viewers understand the context.
About our Policies and Terms
These policies apply generally to the content you post on Currents. Some services have their own separate policies that can be found within those services and apply to your use of them. All Google products and services are governed by their applicable terms of service.
Reporting potential issues
If you encounter content or a user that you believe violates the above policies, please report it to us using the "Report Abuse" link (or similarly named link). Learn more about reporting abuse on Currents.
When you embed content from Currents on a webpage, article, or other external location, you must follow the Google Terms of Service, the Google Developers Site Terms of Service, and the following policies:
- Make sure that the location on which you embed Currents content adheres to the Currents User Content and Conduct Policy. For example, do not embed Currents content on a webpage that promotes illegal activities, contains sexually explicit material, or includes malicious code.
- Do not embed Currents content in a manner or context that would violate the Currents User Content and Conduct Policy. For example, do not embed content in a way that results in harassment or bullying of others.
- Do not embed Currents content within advertisements or for other commercial purposes.
- Do not alter or obfuscate embedded Currents content or any of the surrounding presentation, material, or code associated with the embedded Currents content.
- Do not attempt to discover the identity of users who comment or take other action on embedded Currents content unless the user consents to share his or her identity with you via a Google-approved authorization procedure.
- Do not use, sell, or transmit to others any data obtained from the embedded Currents content, including data related to the user’s interaction with embedded Currents content. For the avoidance of doubt, this prohibition includes, but is not limited to, any use of pixels, cookies, or other methods to recognize users’ clicks on embedded Currents content, the data of which is then disclosed, sold, or otherwise shared with other parties.
- You must comply with the EU user consent policy.
Google may analyze your use of embedded Currents content, including to ensure your compliance with these policies and to facilitate our development of tools for embedding content. By embedding Currents content on a website, you give Google permission to review and analyze that website.
If we are notified that your use of embedded Currents content violates any of these policies or the Google Terms of Service, we may review and take action, including blocking you from using embedded Currents content on your website. Please note that we may modify these policies, and that we will post notice of modifications to these policies on this page.
