Content intended to sell certain regulated goods and services is not allowed on YouTube. In some cases, we may make exceptions for content with educational, documentary, scientific or artistic context, including content that is in the public's interest.
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'd like to report, you can report the channel.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, gambling, other addictions or mental health challenges, help is available. You can find resources here.
What this policy means for you
If you're posting content
Don't post content on YouTube if it aims to directly sell, link to or facilitate access to any of the regulated goods and services listed below. Making the sale of these items possible or facilitating the use of these services by posting links, emails, phone numbers or other means to contact a provider directly is not allowed.
- Alcohol
- Bank account passwords, stolen credit cards or other financial information
- Counterfeit documents or currency
- Controlled narcotics and other drugs
- Explosives
- Organs
- Endangered species or parts of endangered species
- Firearms and certain firearms accessories
- Nicotine, including vaping products
- Uncertified online gambling sites
- Pharmaceuticals without a prescription
- Non-regulated substances for the purpose of abuse
- Sex or escort services
- Unlicensed medical services
- Human smuggling
Note: If you're providing links or contact information such as phone numbers, emails or other means of contact for places where hard drugs or certain poisonous substances can be purchased, or for places where pharmaceuticals can be purchased without a prescription, your channel may be terminated. See examples below.
Additionally, the following content isn't allowed on YouTube:
- Hard drug use or creation: Hard drug use or creation, selling or facilitating the sale of hard or soft drugs, facilitating the sale of regulated pharmaceuticals without a prescription or showing how to use steroids in non-educational content.
- Poison sale or creation: Facilitating the sale, giveaway, creation or modification of certain poisons or poisonous substances.
- Instructional cheating: Content that provides instructions for academic cheating.
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 or verbally directing users to other sites in videos, as well as other forms.
Examples
Here are some examples of content that's not allowed on YouTube.
Bear in mind that this isn't a complete list.
- Facilitating access to an online gambling or sports betting site that is not certified.
- Promising the viewer guaranteed returns via online gambling, regardless of whether the site is certified or not.
- Selling counterfeit passports or providing instructions on creating forged official documents.
- Advertising escort, prostitution or erotic massage services.
- Content instructing how to purchase drugs on the dark web.
- A video of a user making a purchase with software that generates fake credit card numbers.
- Including a link to an online pharmacy that does not require prescriptions.
- Content that promotes a product that contains drugs, nicotine or a controlled substance.
- Displays of hard drug use: Non-educational content that shows the injection of intravenous drugs like heroin, snorting powdered drugs like cocaine or taking hallucinogens like acid.
- Making hard drugs: Non-educational content that explains how to make drugs.
- Displays of inhalant abuse: Non-educational content that shows the abuse of inhalants like glue, laughing gas or poppers.
- Minors using alcohol or drugs: Showing minors misusing fireworks, drinking alcohol or using vaporisers, e-cigarettes, tobacco or marijuana.
- Steroid use: Non-educational content that shows how to use, create or facilitate the sale of steroids for recreational purposes, like bodybuilding.
- Selling soft drugs: Such as providing links to sites facilitating the sale of marijuana or salvia.
- Selling hard drugs: Featuring hard drugs with the goal of selling them. Some types of hard drugs include (please note that this is not a complete list and that these substances may also be known under different names):
- Amphetamine
- Cocaine
- Dextromethorphan (DXM)
- Flunitrazepam
- Fentanyl
- GHB
- Heroin
- Ketamine
- K2
- LSD
- MDMA/ecstasy
- Mescaline
- Methamphetamine
- Isotonitazene (ISO)
- Opium
- PCP
- Psilocybin and psilocybe (magic mushrooms)
- Selling inhalants: Facilitating the sale of unregulated substances for abuse (please note that this is not a complete list, and these substances may also be known under different names):
- Hydrocarbons
- Nitrites
- Nitrous oxide
- The sale of certain poisonous substances. Some examples include (please note that this is not a complete list and that these substances may also be known under different names):
- Cyanide
- Chloroform
- Mercury
- Instructions to make certain poisonous substances: Non-educational content that explains how to make poisonous substances.
Note: If you're providing links or contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses or other means of contact for places where hard drugs or poisonous substances can be purchased or for places where pharmaceuticals can be purchased without a prescription, your channel may be terminated.
Please remember that these are just some examples. Don't post content if you think it might violate this policy
Age-restricted content
Sometimes content doesn't violate our policies, but it may not be appropriate for viewers under 18.
Examples of age-restricted content
- Content that promotes a cannabis dispensary.
- Content that reviews brands of nicotine e-liquid.
- Content that facilitates access to, promotes or depicts online gambling and social/sweepstakes casinos, including content from certified sites.
Educational, documentary, scientific or artistic content
Sometimes, content that would otherwise violate this policy is allowed to stay on YouTube when it has educational, documentary, scientific or artistic (EDSA) context. We may also make exceptions for content that is in the public's interest, such as congressional or parliamentary proceedings, campaign speeches or debates over ongoing government actions. This is not a pass to promote content intended to sell, create or facilitate access to certain regulated goods and services.
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 that 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 the first time that you've violated our Community Guidelines, you'll probably get a warning with no penalty to your channel. You will have the option to take policy training to allow the warning to expire after 90 days. The 90-day period starts from when the training is completed, not when the warning is issued. However, if the same policy is violated within that 90-day window, the warning may not expire and your channel may be given a strike. If you violate a different policy after completing the training, you will get another warning.
If you get three strikes within 90 days, your channel may 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 training in the future. Learn more about channel or account terminations.