Child safety
May 2024
We have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation and remove certain media depicting physical child abuse to prevent the normalization of violence against children.
Our Child Safety policy is designed to protect minors from sexual and physical abuse, as well as psychological harm that may result from sharing such content. With this principle in mind, Child Safety content is any content that contains Child Sexual Exploitation, Physical Child Abuse Media and Media of Minors in Physical Altercation, as defined below.
We encourage our users to come to X to share stories, raise awareness, and speak their mind - including calling attention to the exploitation of children and minors. However, even when shared with the intent to bring awareness or justice, to express outrage or sharing content in a humoristic context, posting media of children experiencing sexual abuse or certain types of physical abuse can contribute to their revictimization and may even lead to the normalization of sexual or physical violence against children. When this content is shared on X, we may remove it even if it was shared with good intent. Our priority is to protect minors from physical and psychological harm irrespective of the context in which the content may be shared.
We use the terms children and minors interchangeably in any of our policies and define them as any person under the age of 18.
Child Sexual Exploitation
X has zero tolerance towards any material that features or promotes child sexual exploitation. This may include real media, text, illustrated, or computer-generated media - including generative AI media. Regardless of the intent, anyone viewing, sharing, linking, or engaging with any kind of child sexual exploitation material contributes to the re-victimization of the depicted children and puts children at an extreme risk of being harmed. This also applies to content that may further contribute to victimization of children through the promotion or glorification of child sexual exploitation.
Not allowed
Any content that depicts or promotes child sexual exploitation is strictly prohibited on X. This includes, but is not limited to, directly or indirectly sharing, requesting, linking to, engaging with (such as liking or reposting, or following accounts that distribute), expressing a desire for, or describing:
- depictions of a child engaging in sexually explicit or suggestive acts, which may include edits of such media, such as obscuring faces or body parts;
sexualized commentaries about or directed at a known (or unknown) minor;
links to third-party sites that host child sexual exploitation materials of any kind; and
fantasies about or promoting engagement in child sexual exploitation.
Additionally, we prohibit any of the following:
identifying alleged victims of childhood sexual exploitation by name or image;
promoting or normalizing sexual attraction to minors as a form of identity or sexual orientation;
sending sexually explicit media to a child, or engaging or trying to engage a child in a sexually explicit conversation;
trying to obtain sexually explicit media from a child, or trying to engage a child in sexual activity through blackmail or other incentives;
recruiting, advertising or expressing an interest in a commercial sex act involving a child, or in harboring and/or transporting a child for sexual purposes; and
threatening to share, or requesting that others share sexual media of minors, including self-generated sexual media of minors, particularly when engaging in blackmail or bounty tactics.
Allowed
We will make very limited exceptions to content related to child sexual exploitation only where there is a low risk of direct harm to the minor(s):
discussion related to child sexual exploitation that does not promote or glorify child sexual exploitation in any way or identify the potential victim;
victims sharing their stories, provided they do not contain explicit details or media;
conversations about help-seeking behavior of individuals who may struggle with an attraction to minors; and
advocacy against illegal or harmful activity involving minors, provided there is no sharing of, or linking to any material featuring child sexual exploitation.
For violations of our Child Sexual Exploitation policy:
- in the majority of cases, users will be immediately and permanently suspended;
additionally, when we’re made aware of content depicting or promoting child sexual exploitation, including links to third party sites where this content can be accessed, the accounts sharing this content will be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC); and
for certain violations, we may instead require post removal. For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension.
Physical Child Abuse Media
To prevent the revictimization or normalization of violence against children, we will remove most instances of media depicting physical child abuse, even if shared to raise awareness or express outrage.
When assessing the best course of action to take, we consider:
whether the child is nude, partially clothed, or fully clothed;
the severity of harm the child is experiencing; and
whether the media was shared with abusive, non-abusive, or newsworthy context.
Not allowed
With the above criteria in mind, we are more likely to remove any media:
where the child is nude and experiencing any type of harm;
shared with abusive context; and
where the child is experiencing moderate or major harm.
Restricted reach
We will make limited exceptions to media depicting physical child abuse in certain circumstances, such as:
when the media is being shared to identify the child in order to rescue them from the abusive situation, or identify the perpetrator; and
when the media is being shared by news organizations.
If we decide to allow this media on the platform, we will require it to be placed behind our Graphic Content warning.
For violations of our Physical Child Abuse Media policy, we may:
Make the content less visible on X by:
- applying a content warning; or
- requiring post removal. For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can post again. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension.
Suspend accounts whose sole purpose appears to be to engage in the types of behavior prohibited above.
Media of Minors in Physical Altercation
We aim to protect the wellbeing of minors involved in physical altercation, regardless of their status (i.e victim or aggressor), while balancing the need to raise awareness of these issues. When assessing the best course of action to take, we may consider whether:
the content is shared with an abusive or non-abusive context;
we have received a report from the minor or an authorized representative; and
the content is excessively graphic.
Restricted reach
We will make limited exceptions to media depicting children in physical altercation in certain circumstances, such as when the media is being shared by news organizations. If we decide to allow this media on the platform, we may require it to be placed behind a content warning.
For violations of our Media of Minors is Physical Altercation policy:
We may require post removal upon receiving a report from the minor or an authorized representative. For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can post again. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension;
when sharing content that is abusive towards the victim Abusive Behavior policies may apply; and
- when sharing content that is Graphic or includes Gratuitous Gore, our Sensitive Media policies may apply.
How to Report
Anyone can report violations of this policy using our dedicated in-app reporting flow or via our Help Center. An X account is not needed to report potential violations.
If you believe a child is at immediate risk of harm or death, please reach out to your local law enforcement. Additionally, after reporting potential violations of our Child Sexual Exploitation policy to us, you can also notify the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) by using their CyberTipline portal or calling 1-800-843-5678.
Note: it can be illegal to engage with content that violates our Child Sexual Exploitation policy. Please be sure to report the content right away and do not like, reply to, quote-post, screenshot, follow accounts who distribute, or otherwise engage with the content; We do not require you to provide evidence of the potential violation in your report.
We are constantly seeking feedback and input from trusted organizations that are aligned in the mission to combat online child sexual exploitation. To learn more about our partnerships read the update on our work to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation on X.