​Suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders policy

The safety of our creators, viewers, and partners is our highest priority. We look to each of you to help us protect this unique and vibrant community. It’s important you understand our Community Guidelines, and the role they play in our shared responsibility to keep YouTube safe. Take the time to carefully read the policy below. You can also check out this page for a full list of our guidelines.

Note: On April 18, 2023, we updated our Eating disorders policy to better protect the community from sensitive content that may pose a risk to some audiences. We may remove imitable content, age-restrict content, or show a crisis resource panel on videos about eating disorders or self-harm topics. The below policy is updated with these changes. You can learn more about our approach in this blog post.

At YouTube, we take the health and well-being of all our creators and viewers seriously. Awareness and understanding of mental health is important and we support creators sharing their stories, such as posting content discussing their experiences with depression, self-harm, eating disorders, or other mental health issues.

However, we do not allow content on YouTube that promotes suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders, that is intended to shock or disgust, or that poses a considerable risk to viewers.

What to do if you find this content

If you believe someone is in danger:

• Get in touch with local emergency services for help
• Flag the video to bring it to our attention

If you find yourself being negatively affected by any mental health, suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder related content you come across, know that there is support available and you’re not alone. In the next section you can find a list of resources and contact information for organizations that can offer advice.

For general guidance on how to talk to someone who you may be concerned about, contact local helplines.

What to do if you need support

If you are depressed, having thoughts of suicide, self-harming, or experiencing an eating disorder, know there is help and you’re not alone. While coping with painful emotions, many people might experience these issues. Talking to a mental health care provider can help determine if you have a mental illness that requires care. It can also help you identify healthy, effective coping strategies and develop skills to manage difficult feelings.

Suicide and self-harm support resources

Below is a list of organizations dedicated to helping those in need in different countries and regions. These are recognized crisis service partners. Partnerships vary by country/region.

The websites findahelpline.com and www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines could help you find organizations for regions not listed here.

Australia	Lifeline Australia Kids Helpline	13 11 14 1800 55 1800
Argentina	Centro de Asistencia al Suicida - Buenos Aires	135 (desde Capital y Gran Buenos Aires)  [phone] (desde todo el país)
Brazil	Centro de Valorização da Vida	188
Belgium	Centre de Prévention du Suicide / Zelfmoordlijn 1813	0800 32 123 1813
Bulgaria	Български Червен Кръст	02 492 30 30
Czech Republic	Psychiatrická léčebna Bohnice - Centrum krizové intervence	[phone]
Denmark	Livslinien	70201201
France	S.O.S Amitié	09 72 39 40 50
Finland	Suomen Mielenterveysseura / Kansallinen kriisipuhelin	09-2525-0111
Germany	Telefonseelsorge	0800-1110111
Greece	ΚΛΙΜΑΚΑ	1018 801 801 99 99
Hong Kong	香港撒瑪利亞防止自殺會	2389 2222
Hungary	S.O.S. Telefonos Lelki Elsősegély Szolgálat	06 1 116-123
India	आसरा AASRA	91-9820466726
Ireland	Samaritans	116 123
Israel	ער"ן - עזרה ראשונה נפשית	1201
Italy	Samaritans Onlus	800 86 00 22
Japan	こころの健康相談統一ダイヤル	0570-064-556
New Zealand	Lifeline New Zealand	0800 543 354
Netherlands	Stichting 113Online	0900-0113
Singapore	Samaritans of Singapore	1800-221-4444
Spain	Telèfon de l'Esperança de Barcelona Teléfono de la Esperanza	93 414 48 48 717 003 717
South Korea	보건복지부 자살예방상담전화	1393
Taiwan	生命線協談專線	1995
Thailand	กรมสุขภาพจิต กระทรวงสาธารณสุข	1323
United Kingdom	Samaritans	116 123
United States of America	Suicide & Crisis Lifeline	988 /Chat

To read tips and watch videos that can help you feel safer on YouTube, visit the Creator Safety Center.

Eating disorder support resources

Below is a list of organizations that help individuals with eating disorders. These organizations are  mental health support partners. Partnerships vary by country/region.

United States	NEDA	[phone]
United Kingdom	BEAT Eating Disorders	[phone] England
		[phone] Scotland
		[phone] Wales
		[phone] N. Ireland
India	Vandrevala Foundation	[phone]

Community Guidelines for posting suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder-related content

YouTube users should not be afraid to speak openly about the topics of mental health, suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders in a supportive and non-harmful way.

However, there are times when content is created that is sensitive and may pose a risk for some users. When you create content that contains suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder related topics, take into account the possible negative impact of your content on other users, especially minors and users who may be sensitive to this content.

To protect and support your viewers and other users, please follow the Community Guidelines below when creating content related to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders. Not following these Community Guidelines may result in a strike, removal of your content, or other restrictions to protect users. Learn more.

This Community Guidelines 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.

Don't post the following content:

• Content promoting or glorifying suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders
• Instructions on how to die by suicide, engage in self-harm, or engage in eating disorders (including how to conceal them)
• Content related to suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders that is targeted at minors
• Graphic images of self-harm
• Visuals of bodies of suicide victims unless blurred or covered so they are fully obscured
• Videos showing the lead-up to a suicide, or suicide attempts and suicide rescue footage without sufficient context
• Content showing participation in or instructions for suicide and self-harm challenges (e.g. Blue Whale or Momo challenges)
• Suicide notes or letters without sufficient context
• Content that features weight-based bullying in the context of eating disorders

In some cases we may restrict, rather than remove, suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder content if it meets one or more of the following criteria (for example, by placing an age-restriction, a warning, or a Crisis Resource Panel on the video). Please note this is not a complete list:

• Content that is meant to be educational, documentary, scientific, or artistic
• Content that is of public interest
• Graphic content that is sufficiently blurred
• Dramatizations or scripted content, which includes but is not limited to animations, video games, music videos, and clips from movies and shows
• Detailed discussion of suicide or self-harm methods, locations and hotspots
• Graphic descriptions of self-harm or suicide
• Eating disorder recovery content that includes details which may be triggering to at-risk viewers

Best practices for creators posting content about suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders

We recommend using these best practices in content related to suicide or self-harm to protect your viewers from harm and distress:

• Avoid showing the person who died by suicide, and respect their, and their families’, privacy. Learn more.
• Use wording that is positive and supportive, and focuses on recovery, prevention, and stories of hope.
• Include information and resources for suicide and self-harm prevention and coping strategies. Try to include it in both the video itself and the description of the video.
• Do not use sensationalist language or dramatic visuals.
• Provide context, but avoid discussing how the victim died by suicide. Do not mention the methods or locations.
• Blur content that contains images of suicide victims. You can blur your video with the Editor in YouTube Studio. Learn more.

We recommend using these best practices in content related to eating disorders to protect your viewers from harm and distress:

• Focus on the impact of the disorder instead of the details of the disordered eating behavior.
• Tell your audience that eating disorders commonly cause severe complications.
• Include info and resources for eating disorder prevention and coping strategies. Try to include it in both the video itself and the description of the video.

What happens if content violates this policy

If your content violates this policy, we will 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. Note that violative URLs posted within the video itself or in the video’s metadata may result in the video being removed.

If this is your first time violating our Community Guidelines, you'll likely get a warning with no penalty to your channel. You will have the chance to take a policy training to allow the warning to expire after 90 days. However, if the same policy is violated within that 90 day window, the warning will not expire and your channel will be given a strike. If you violate a different policy after completing the training, you will get another warning.

If you get 3 strikes within 90 days, your channel will be terminated. Learn more about our strikes system.

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.

Finally we may also limit your access to live streaming if you suggest that you’ll live stream content that will violate our Community Guidelines. Learn more about restrictions on live streaming.

Warnings and supportive resources

YouTube may show features or resources to users when content contains suicide or self-harm topics. For example:

• A warning on your video before it starts playing, indicating that it contains content relating to suicide and self-harm
• A panel under the video containing supportive resources such as phone numbers of suicide prevention organizations