Community Standards

Mastodon.social and Mastodon.online are part of the social web, also known as the fediverse: A network of interconnected communities building a human-centred social web and serving the common good. Together with our Privacy Policy, these Community Standards help create a space where authentic connections flourish and diverse communities thrive.

Mastodon was created in Europe, our servers are hosted in the EU, and our community is all over the world. Practically, we are managed by Mastodon GmbH, a German charitable organisation. We act swiftly on illegal content to provide a fun and safe environment for everyone. We reserve the right to take action on content that does not strictly violate the standards below, but that we feel is unsuitable for our server.

We're committed to:

  • Protecting marginalised and vulnerable communities
  • Being transparent about our decisions
  • Learning from our mistakes
  • Evolving these guidelines based on your feedback
  • Building a social web that serves the common good

Please observe these standards

The standards below expand on our server rules; we expect our community to observe them. If you observe someone breaking our rules, please report them so we can handle it. We also recommend reading about our cultural norms to understand how people in our community work to improve accessibility and respect consent across the social web.

Make informed choices possible

  • Mark sensitive content appropriately
    • Use content warnings and mark media as sensitive for sexually explicit material, nudity, violence, gore. You should also use content warnings for imagery people may not want to encounter unexpectedly. An example of this is rapid flash animations, which can be harmful to people with neurological conditions.
  • No sensitive content in profile pictures and banners
    • Content in profile pictures or banners must be appropriate for all audiences since it is impossible to put these behind content warnings.
  • Be thoughtful with hashtags
    • Help people find their communities and filter what they'd rather not see. Avoid overusing hashtags to prevent spamming.
  • Respect "no reply" requests
    • If someone asks not to be @-mentioned or replied to, honour that boundary.

Protect people's dignity and safety

  • No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, or casteism
    • We prohibit slurs, hate speech, and discrimination based on protected characteristics. This includes both overt hatred and subtle dogwhistles designed to demean or exclude. Criticism of governments and religions is permissible unless used as a proxy for discriminating against people.
  • No intentional misgendering or deadnaming
    • Respect people's names and pronouns. Accidents happen and we understand people are learning, but repeatedly using wrong pronouns after correction, or arguing against using someone's correct pronouns, violates these standards.
  • No harassment, dogpiling, or coordinated attacks
    • Don't persistently target individuals, coordinate campaigns to attack others, or create accounts solely to harass someone. Don’t quote-post or screenshot users’ posts to incite pile-ons or direct harassment towards them. Respect people's decision when they block you - don't evade blocks or make repeated unwanted contact.
  • No doxxing or privacy violations
    • Don't share people's private information (home addresses, contact details, financial data, medical information, identification documents) without consent. Sharing real-time location or other information that poses immediate safety risks is prohibited.
  • Consider context and power
    • We recognise that discrimination operates within power structures. When marginalised people express frustration about systemic oppression, we apply context - this isn't the same as reinforcing hierarchies of harm. However, individual harassment based on identity is never acceptable.

Respect creative work and authenticity

  • Attribute content you didn't create
    • Give credit to original creators, artists, and sources. For adult content, this includes naming performers. Link to original sources when possible.
  • Disclose AI-generated content
    • Be transparent when sharing content created by generative AI. Accounts that primarily or exclusively post AI-generated content are prohibited.
  • Don't impersonate others
    • You can use alternative identities, parody accounts, or roleplay as fictional characters, but make it clear you're not actually the person or organisation you're representing. Deceptive impersonation designed to mislead people is prohibited.
  • Respect intellectual property
    • Don't share pirated content, remove watermarks, or violate copyrights. We support creators' rights whilst recognising fair use and transformative work.

Share news and information responsibly

  • Don't share widely-known false or misleading information
    • Particularly if it's likely to mislead others, endanger safety, or undermine democratic processes, and especially if the content you are sharing is designed to mislead others. We distinguish between good-faith mistakes, satire, opinion, and deliberate disinformation campaigns.
  • Be especially careful with crisis information
    • During emergencies, breaking news, or elections, verify before you share. We take strong action against false information about voting procedures, public safety threats, or health crises.
  • Context matters
    • We allow discussion of conspiracy theories, fringe beliefs, and controversial claims when framed appropriately. What we prohibit is presenting disinformation as fact, particularly when it targets vulnerable groups or could cause immediate harm.

Keep our community safe

  • No child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
    • We have zero tolerance for content that sexualises, exploits, or depicts minors in sexual contexts. This includes illustrated, animated, or AI-generated content. 
  • No promotion of violence or violent ideologies
    • Don't call for people to be assassinated, murdered, or physically attacked. Don't promote or express support for violent groups, terrorist organisations, or ideologies built on violence and oppression. Don't share graphic violence designed to shock or glorify harm.
  • No non-consensual intimate imagery
    • Don't share intimate images or videos of anyone without their consent. This includes revenge porn, voyeurism/upskirting, deepfakes, and AI-generated sexual content using someone's likeness without permission. If you're a victim, report immediately - we expedite removal.
  • Adult content requires consent and attribution
    • We welcome adult content creators, including sex workers and performers. All adult content must be properly marked as sensitive, and content from others must credit creators/performers. Don’t share intimate images of strangers you’ve found online.Unsolicited sexual content, "porn dumps" without attribution, and exploitative content are prohibited.
  • No exploitation of anyone
    • Don't share content depicting animal abuse, promote self-harm or eating disorders, facilitate human trafficking, or sell illegal goods and services.

Participate in good faith

  • Don't spam or manipulate the platform
    • No repetitive posting, artificial engagement manipulation, commercial spam, or using automation to disrupt conversations. Undisclosed advertising and sponsored content must be clearly identified. Accounts created primarily to promote get-rich-quick schemes, cryptocurrencies, forex trading, NFTs, or other financial scams may be suspended without extensive investigation.
  • Don't abuse our systems
    • No creating single-purpose harassment accounts, mass false reporting, selling accounts, evading bans, or attempting to bypass our security measures or age verification (where applicable).
  • Choose kindness
    • Whilst we allow robust disagreement and criticism, we encourage constructive dialogue over personal attacks. Accounts with extreme patterns of toxic behaviour (persistent insults, responses designed purely to provoke, hostile language creating unwelcoming environments) may face restrictions.
  • Respect our shared space
    • We're building this together. If you see someone does something you don’t like, lead with kindness and curiously when sharing your feedback. When someone gives you feedback about harm you've caused, listen with openness. When you disagree with moderation decisions, use our appeals process rather than attacking moderators.

Special considerations

  • High-follower accounts
    • Accounts with significant reach (3,000+ followers) may be held to higher standards during crisis events or when their content has potential for widespread harm.
  • Known bad actors
    • We may take action on accounts or individuals who have not yet violated a rule on our servers, but have a demonstrated pattern of harmful behaviour elsewhere that suggests a high likelihood of causing harm on our platform.
  • Federation
    • Mastodon is part of the fediverse; we do not control the content that is created or hosted on servers that are not owned or operated by our organisation. We may limit or block servers hosting accounts or content that doesn’t align with our values or puts our community at risk.

We’re in this together

These guidelines might feel like a lot, but remember: most people on Mastodon never encounter moderation because they're already being thoughtful, kind community members.

If you're unsure whether something violates our guidelines, ask yourself:

  • Does this respect people's consent and dignity?
  • Am I being transparent about what I'm sharing?
  • Could this cause harm to vulnerable people?
  • Am I contributing to community wellbeing?

When in doubt, err on the side of kindness and ask for clarification.

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