Violent Content
May 2024
You may share graphic media if it is properly labeled, not prominently displayed and is not excessively gory or depicting sexual violence, but explicitly threatening, inciting, glorifying, or expressing desire for violence is not allowed.
X is a place where people can express themselves, show and learn about what’s happening, and debate global issues, often sharing images and videos as part of the conversation. However, healthy conversations can’t thrive when Violent Speech is used to deliver a message, and not every participant wishes to be exposed to Violent Media. As a result, we may remove or reduce the visibility of Violent Content to ensure the safety of our users and prevent the normalization or glorification of violent actions. We also do not allow sharing Violent Content in highly visible places such as profile photos, banners or bio.
How we define Violent Content
Violent Content is any content containing Violent Speech or Violent Media, as defined below:
Violent Speech: Content that threatens, incites, glorifies, or expresses desire for violence or harm.
Not Allowed
We prohibit Violent Speech that we consider high in severity and likelihood of harm. Such content must be removed and subsequent violations may result in the account being placed in read-only mode or suspended. Examples include explicit statements that are:
- Violent Threats: Threats to inflict physical harm on others, which includes threatening to kill, torture, sexually assault, or otherwise hurt someone. This also includes threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, religious, or business activities;
- Wish of Harm: Wishing, hoping or expressing desire for harm. This includes hoping for others to die, suffer illnesses, tragic incidents, or experience other physically harmful consequences;
- Incitement of Violence: Inciting, promoting or encouraging others to commit acts of violence or harm, including encouraging others to hurt themselves or inciting others to commit atrocity crimes such as crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide;
- Glorification of Violence: Glorifying, praising, or celebrating acts of violence where harm occurred, including expressing gratitude or praising that someone experienced physical harm by Violent Entities. This also includes glorifying animal abuse or cruelty.
We also prohibit Violent Speech within areas that are highly visible on X, such as in live video, profile, header, bio, list banner images, or community cover photos.
Restricted Reach
We ensure we take proportionate action based on the severity and likelihood of harm. Therefore, in certain cases, we may make the violative content less visible by restricting its reach on X. This includes when we assessed:
harm is minor or non-deliberate;
context is self-defense or military conflict;
context is outrage or reactive against perpetrators of major harm;
the target is unclear;
usage of coded language (often referred to as "dog whistles") to indirectly incite violence.
Allowed
We seek to evaluate and understand contextual nuances behind the conversation before taking action, and we allow expressions of Violent Speech when there is no clear abusive or violent context, such as:
hyperbolic and consensual speech between friends, or during discussion of video games and sporting events;
figures of speech, satire, or artistic expression when the context is expressing a viewpoint rather than instigating actionable violence or harm;
quotes from books and movies, music lyrics or poetry when the context is expressing a viewpoint rather than instigating actionable violence or harm.
Violent Media: Visual material depicting graphic, violent or excessively gory content including sexual violence.
Not Allowed
We prohibit Violent Media that we consider high in severity and likelihood of harm. Such content must be removed and subsequent violations may result in the account being placed in read-only mode or suspended. This includes:
- Violent Sexual Conduct: Media that depicts violence, whether real or simulated, in association with sexual acts, including rape and other forms of violent sexual assault such as sexual acts that occur without the consent of participants, and sexualized violence within an intimate setting, where it is not immediately obvious if those involved have consented to take part;
Gratuitous Gore: Media of humans or animals that depicts excessively graphic or gruesome content related to death, violence or severe physical harm including dismembered or mutilated humans, charred or burned human remains, exposed internal organs or bones and animal torture or killing;
Moment of Death: Images or videos where a reasonably identifiable person is clearly deceased or depicts the murder of an identifiable individual if we receive a request from their family or an authorized representative;
- Bestiality & Necrophilia: Media that depicts sexual acts between a human and an animal or sexual acts between a living human and a human corpse.
We also prohibit Violent Media within areas that are highly visible on X, such as in live video, profile, header, list banner images, or community cover photos or targeting someone nonconsensually with unwanted Violent Media.
Restricted Reach
You’re allowed to post the following Violent Media provided it’s properly labeled with a content warning so users who do not wish to see it can avoid it. This also helps ensure children below the age of 18 are not exposed to it. Examples include depictions of Graphic Media, such as:
violent crimes or accidents;
physical fights;
bodily fluids including blood, feces etc.;
serious physical harm, including visible wounds;
severely injured or mutilated animals;
- media of humans or animals that depicts death, violence, medical procedures, or serious physical injury in graphic detail but does not rise to the threshold of excessively gory;
- excessively gory media that is otherwise removed may remain on the platform if it is associated with newsworthy events, to raise awareness or to call for political action, and is properly labeled with a content warning.
Allowed
We seek to evaluate and understand contextual nuances surrounding the content before taking action, therefore, we allow some types of media without removal or restriction, such as when there is:
- violence depicting animals as a result of hunting or fishing, food manufacturing or processing, bullfighting, or religious sacrifice unless it contains excessively gory content;
- painted or illustrated art portraying violence;
- humor or satire, including memes;
- physical recovery or medical content such as scars or healed wounds, stitches, or prosthetics;
- simulated blood used for events, protests, entertainment or art;
- historical content including media from history books, or museum stills;
- explosions, altercations, destruction of property, surveillance media or shootings with no prohibited Violent Media present.
How to mark your content
If you regularly post Graphic Media on X, we ask that you adjust your media settings. Doing so places all your images and videos behind a content warning that needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed. You can also add a one-time content warning on individual posts. If you continue to fail marking your posts, we will adjust your account settings for you.
Users under 18 or viewers who do not include a birth date on their profile cannot click to view marked content. Learn more about age restricted content here.
You may begin to see new media content warnings on posts that X has designated as containing Graphic Content (instead of a generic sensitive media label). When these new content warnings are available for you to use, please be sure to continue marking your media accordingly.
How to report
Anyone can report unmarked content or other violations using our dedicated in-app reporting flow.
Appeals
If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.