Community Guidelines
A platform's rules governing acceptable content and behavior for all users, which also apply to advertising content.
What Community Guidelines means
Community guidelines are platform-wide content policies that apply to both organic and paid content. They cover areas like hate speech, violence, harassment, misinformation, nudity, and illegal activity. Advertising policies typically layer additional restrictions on top of community guidelines — ads must comply with both the general community guidelines and the specific advertising policies. Understanding community guidelines is important because violations in organic content can trigger ad account restrictions, and ads are reviewed against community guidelines even if they technically comply with advertising policies. Platforms regularly update community guidelines in response to emerging issues, regulatory changes, and societal events.
Related terms
Content Moderation
The process by which platforms review and enforce rules on user-generated and advertising content.
Prohibited Content
Content categories that are completely banned from advertising on a platform, with no exceptions or appeal options.
Restricted Content
Ad content categories that are allowed on platforms but only with specific restrictions, certifications, or targeting limitations.
Policy Violation
Any breach of a platform's advertising policies, ranging from minor formatting issues to serious prohibited content violations.