Content intended to praise, promote or aid violent extremist or criminal organisations is not allowed on YouTube. These organisations 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 that anyone is in immediate danger, you should contact 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 organisations
- Content praising or memorialising 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 organisations
- Content aimed at recruiting new members to violent extremist, criminal or terrorist organisations
- Content depicting hostages or posted with the intent to solicit, threaten or intimidate on behalf of a criminal, extremist or terrorist organisation
- Content that depicts the insignia, logos or symbols of violent extremist, criminal or terrorist organisations 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 organisation designations, to determine what constitutes criminal or terrorist organisations. For example, we terminate any channel for which we have reasonable belief that the account holder is a member of a designated terrorist organisation, such as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (US) or organisation identified by the United Nations.
If posting content related to terrorism or crime for an educational, documentary, scientific or artistic purpose, be sure to provide enough information in the video or audio itself that 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. Bear in mind that this isn't a complete list. Please note that 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 organisations
- Celebrating terrorist leaders or their crimes in songs or memorials
- Celebrating terrorist or criminal organisations 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
- Video game content that has been developed or modified ('modded') to glorify a violent event or its perpetrator, or support violent extremist, criminal or terrorist organisations
- Glorifying violence against civilians
- Fundraising for violent criminal, extremist or terrorist organisations
Please remember that these are just some examples, so don't post content if you think that 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 three strikes within 90 days, your channel will be terminated. You can learn more about our strike system here.
Violations may result in monetisation being disabled on any of your accounts in accordance with our YouTube Channel Monetisation Policies. This can include warnings. If you feel that this is a mistake, you can appeal. If the violation is overturned, you can apply for monetisation 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 training in the future. Learn more about channel or account terminations.