Facebook

In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on Facebook. We assess these entities based on their behavior both online and offline, most significantly, their ties to violence. Under this policy, we designate individuals, organizations, and networks of people. These designations are divided into three tiers that indicate the level of content enforcement, with Tier 1 resulting in the most extensive enforcement because we believe these entities have the most direct ties to offline harm.

Tier 1 focuses on entities that engage in serious offline harms - including organizing or advocating for violence against civilians, repeatedly dehumanizing or advocating for harm against people based on protected characteristics, or engaging in systematic criminal operations. Tier 1 entities include terrorist, hate, and criminal organizations. We remove praise, substantive support, and representation of Tier 1 entities as well as their leaders, founders, or prominent members. Tier 1 includes hate organizations; criminal organizations, including those designated by the United States government as Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficking Kingpins (SDNTKs); and terrorist organizations, including entities and individuals designated by the United States government as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). We remove praise, substantive support, and representation of Tier 1 entities as well as their leaders, founders, or prominent members.

In addition, we do not allow content that praises, substantively supports, or represents events that Facebook designates as violating violent events - including terrorist attacks, hate events, mass murders or attempted mass murders, multiple murders, or hate crimes. Nor do we allow praise, substantive support, or representation of the perpetrator(s) of such attacks. We also remove content that praises, substantively supports or represents ideologies that promote hate, such as nazism and white supremacy.

Tier 2 focuses on entities that engage in violence against state or military actors but do not generally target civilians -- what we call “Violent Non-State Actors.” We remove all substantive support and representation of these entities, their leaders, and their prominent members. We remove any praise of these groups’ violent activities.

Tier 3 focuses on entities that may repeatedly engage in violations of our Hate Speech or Dangerous Organizations policies on-or-off the platform or demonstrate strong intent to engage in offline violence in the near future, but have not necessarily engaged in violence to date or advocated for violence against others based on their protected characteristics. This includes Militarized Social Movements, Violence-Inducing Conspiracy Networks, and individuals and groups banned for promoting hatred. Tier 3 entities may not have a presence or coordinate on our platforms.

We recognize that users may share content that includes references to designated dangerous organizations and individuals to report on, condemn, or neutrally discuss them or their activities. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of discussions, but we require people to clearly indicate their intent. If the intention is unclear, we may remove content.

We remove Praise, Substantive Support, and Representation of various Dangerous Organizations. These concepts apply to the organizations themselves, their activities, and their members. These concepts do not proscribe peaceful advocacy for particular political outcomes.

Praise, defined as any of the below:

Speak positively about a designated entity or event;
E.g., “The fighters for the Islamic State are really brave!”
Give a designated entity or event a sense of achievement;
E.g., “Timothy McVeigh is a martyr.”
Legitimizing the cause of a designated entity by making claims that their hateful, violent, or criminal conduct is legally, morally, or otherwise justified or acceptable;
E.g., “Hitler did nothing wrong.”
Aligning oneself ideologically with a designated entity or event.
E.g., “I stand with Brenton Tarrant.”

We remove Praise of Tier 1 entities and designated events. We will also remove praise of violence carried out by Tier 2 entities.

Substantive Support, defined as any of the below:

Any act which improves the financial status of a designated entity - including funnelling money towards, or away from a designated entity;
E.g., “Donate to the KKK!”
Any act which provides material aid to a designated entity or event;
E.g., “If you want to send care packages to the Sinaloa Cartel, use this address:”
Putting out a call to action on behalf of a designated entity or event;
E.g., “Contact the Atomwaffen Division - (XXX) XXX-XXXX”
Recruiting on behalf of a designated entity or event;
E.g., “If you want to fight for the Caliphate, DM me”
Channeling information or resources, including official communications, on behalf of a designated entity or event
E.g., Directly quoting a designated entity without caption that condemns, neutrally discusses, or is a part of news reporting.

We remove Substantive Support of Tier 1 and Tier 2 entities and designated events.

Representation, defined as any of the below:

Stating that you are a member of a designated entity, or are a designated entity;
E.g., “I am a grand dragon of the KKK.”
Creating a Page, Profile, Event, Group, or other Facebook entity that is or purports to be owned by a Designated Entity or run on their behalf, or is or purports to be a designated event.
E.g., A Page named “American Nazi Party.”

We remove Representation of Tier 1 and 2 Designated Organizations, Hate-Banned Entities, and designated events.

Tier 1: Terrorism, organized hate, large-scale criminal activity, mass and multiple murderers, and violating violent events

We do not allow individuals or organizations involved in organized crime, including those designated by the United States government as specially designated narcotics trafficking kingpins (SDNTKs); hate; or terrorism, including entities designated by the United States government as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), to have a presence onthe platform. We also don't allow other people to represent these entities. We do not allow leaders or prominent members of these organizations to have a presence on the platform, symbols that represent them to be used on the platform, or content that praises them or their acts. In addition, we remove any coordination of substantive support for these individuals and organizations.

We do not allow content that praises, substantively supports, or represents events that Facebook designates as terrorist attacks, hate events, mass murders or attempted mass murders, serial murders, hate crimes or violating violent events.

We also do not allow Praise, Substantive Support, or Representation of designated hateful ideologies.

Terrorist organizations and individuals, defined as a non-state actor that:

Engages in, advocates, or lends substantial support to purposive and planned acts of violence,
Which causes or attempts to cause death, injury or serious harm to civilians, or any other person not taking direct part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, and/or significant damage to property linked to death, serious injury or serious harm to civilians
With the intent to coerce, intimidate and/or influence a civilian population, government, or international organization
In order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim.

Hate Organizations, defined as an association of three or more people that:

is organized under a name, sign, or symbol; and
has an ideology, statements, or physical actions that attack individuals based on characteristics, including race, religious affiliation, national origin, disability, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, or serious disease.

Criminal Organizations, defined as an association of three or more people that:

is united under a name, color(s), hand gesture(s) or recognized indicia; and
has engaged in or threatens to engage in criminal activity such as homicide, drug trafficking, or kidnapping.

Mass and Multiple Murderers

We consider an event to be a mass murder or an attempted mass murder if it results in three or more casualties in one incident, defined as deaths or serious injuries. Any Individual who has committed such an attack is considered to be a mass murderer or an attempted mass murderer.
We consider any individual who has committed two or more murders over multiple incidents or locations a multiple murderer.

Hateful Ideologies

While our designations of organizations and individuals focus on behavior, we also recognize that there are certain ideologies and beliefs that are inherently tied to violence and attempts to organize people around calls for violence or exclusion of others based on their protected characteristics. In these cases, we designate the ideology itself and remove content that supports this ideology from our platform. These ideologies include:
Nazism
White Supremacy
White Nationalism
White Separatism
We remove explicit Praise, Substantive Support, and Representation of these ideologies, and remove individuals and organizations that ascribe to one or more of these hateful ideologies.

Tier 2: Violent Non-State Actors

Organizations and individuals designated by Facebook as Violent Non-state Actors are not allowed to have a presence on Facebook, or have a presence maintained by others on their behalf. As these groups are actively engaged in violence, substantive support of these entities is similarly not allowed. We will also remove praise of violence carried out by these entities.

Violent Non-State Actors, defined as any non-state actor that:

engages in purposive and planned acts of violence primarily against a government military or other armed groups; and
that causes or attempts to
cause death to persons taking direct part in hostilities in an armed conflict, and/or
deprive communities of access to vital infrastructure and natural resources, and/or bring significant damage to property, linked to death, serious injury or serious harm to civilians

Tier 3: Militarized Social Movements, Violence-Inducing Conspiracy Networks, and Hate Banned Entities

Pages, Groups, Events, and Profiles or other Facebook entities that are - or claim to be - maintained by, or on behalf of, Militarized Social Movements and Violence-Inducing Conspiracy Networks are prohibited. Admins of these pages, groups and events will also be removed.

Click here to read more about how we address movements and organizations tied to violence.

We do not allow Representation of Organizations and individuals designated by Facebook as Hate-Banned Entities.

Militarized Social Movements (MSMs), which include:

Militia Groups, defined as non-state actors that use weapons as a part of their training, communication, or presence; and are structured or operate as unofficial military or security forces and:
Coordinate in preparation for violence or civil war; or
Distribute information about the tactical use of weapons for combat; or
Coordinate militarized tactical coordination in a present or future armed civil conflict or civil war.
Groups supporting violent acts amid protests, defined as non-State actors that repeatedly:
Coordinate, promote, admit to or engage in:
Acts of street violence against civilians or law enforcement; or
Arson, Looting, or other destruction of property; or
Threaten to violently disrupt an election process; or
Promote bringing weapons to a location when the stated intent is to intimidate people amid a protest.

Violence-Inducing Conspiracy Networks (VICNs), defined as a Non-State Actor that:

Organizes under a name, sign, mission statement, or symbol; and
Promote theories that attribute violent or dehumanizing behavior to people or organizations that have been debunked by credible sources; and
Has inspired multiple incidents of real-world violence by adherents motivated by the desire to draw attention to or redress the supposed harms promoted by these debunked theories.

Hate-Banned Entities, defined as entities that engage in repeated hateful conduct or rhetoric, but do not rise to the level of a Tier 1 entity because they have not engaged in or explicitly advocated for violence, or because they lack sufficient connections to previously designated organizations or figures.