Community Rules
Imgur is a fun place where anyone is welcome to discover entertaining content and have their spirits lifted. We want to keep that good thing going, so we have created this ruleset to help guide the content on Imgur and express our values. We're hanging out at the best party on the Internet, and it's up to all of us to keep the party awesome. If you see a post or comment that breaks the rules, we welcome you to report it to the Imgur moderators. These humans work ‘round the clock to ensure a welcoming environment on Imgur.
These rules apply to all community aspects on Imgur: all parts of a public post (title, description, tags, visual content), comments, links, and messages. Moderators consider context and intent while enforcing the community rules.
No nudity or sexually explicit content.
Imgur welcomes a diverse audience. We don't want to create a bad experience for someone that might stumble across explicit images, nor is it in our company ethos to support explicit content, so some lascivious or sexualized posts are not allowed. This may include content containing:
the gratuitous or explicit display of breasts, butts, and sexual organs intended to stimulate erotic feelings
full or partial nudity
any depiction of sexual activity, explicit or implied (drawings, print, animated, human, or otherwise)
any image taken of or from someone without their knowledge or consent for the purpose of sexualization
solicitation (the uninvited act of directly requesting sexual content from another person, or selling/offering explicit content and/or adult services)
Content that might be taken down may includes: see-thru clothing, exposed or clearly defined genitalia, some images of female nipples/areolas, spread eagle poses, butts in thongs or partially exposed buttocks, close-ups, upskirts, strip teases, cam shows, sexual fluids, private photos from a social media page, or linking to sexually explicit content. Sexually explicit comments that don't include images may also be removed.
Artistic, scientific or educational nude images shared with educational context may be okay here. We don’t try to define art or judge the artistic merit of particular content. Instead, we focus on context and intent, as well as what might make content too explicit for the general community.
Any content found to be sexualizing and exploiting minors will be removed and, if necessary, reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). This applies to photos, videos, animated imagery, descriptions and sexual jokes concerning children.
Examples:
The nudity in this art isn't explicit, so it's ok.
Breastfeeding isn't explicit, so it's ok.
This buttcrack isn't intended to stimulate erotic feelings, so it's ok.
Provocative, inflammatory, unsettling, or suggestive content should be marked as Mature.
Imgur is a universal browsing experience, which means all Imgurians browse the same content, and you never quite know what you might see next. In order to ensure a welcoming browsing experience for everyone, some content is available only by opting-in to see mature content.
Mature content may include, but is not limited to, suggestive, inflammatory, unsettling, or provocative jokes, stories, tags, audio, and visual content. This may include content containing:
mild violence, medical work, injuries or blood
scantily-clad women or men
content that antagonizes or directly agitates a group of people
content that makes an average person squeamish or disgusted
non-explicit content discussing sexual experiences or fetishes
content posted to sexualize or ogle
any content intended for a mature audience
Content that might be marked mature may include: surgical procedures or medical conditions, pimple popping, motor vehicle collisions, dead or injured animals, bikini photoshoots, objectification of public and non-public figures, vomit, graphic or upsetting stories, non-explicit written descriptions of sexual experiences, etc.
No sexually explicit or abusive content, as defined by our community rules, is allowed on Imgur, even if it's marked as mature (please see the NO NUDITY OR EXPLICIT CONTENT rule above).
Please respect the Imgur community by marking mature content as such on the post's options or including "NSFW" your comments. Mature content not marked as such will be recategorized. Adding the “mature” tag to a post will automatically classify the post as mature.
Examples:
In general, blood and injuries may not be appropriate for a general audience, so should be marked mature.
Content posted to sexualize or ogle should be marked mature.
Pimple popping makes many people feel sick, so should be marked mature.
No hate speech, abuse or harassment.
Imgur is open to anyone, so we take down hate speech, divisive content, and abusive content when we see it. This may include content containing:
attacks on people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or medical condition
glorification or endorsement of hateful content or ideologies
harassment in the forms of witch hunting, sexual harassment, repetitive unwanted or obsessive attention, aggressive intimidation, suicide requests or threats, or inciting the community into support or disdain for a person, organization or community
content that attacks, bullies, or harasses non-public people
any image taken of or from someone without their knowledge or consent for the purpose of harassment, abuse, or revenge
Posts that might be taken down may include: brigading, slurs, negative stereotypes, hate-based threats, hate speech, glorification of abuse, malicious personal attacks on non-public individuals, doxxing, slander, ad-hominem attacks directed at another individual, “fat people hate,” misogyny, visual content intended to cause medical harm (i.e. induce seizures), photos taken of a non-public figure without their knowledge to make fun of them, sending unsolicited sexual imagery via messages.
It's important to keep in mind that not everything that's mean or insulting is hate speech. That said, the line between unintentional and serious attacks is sometimes difficult to identify, so we're likely to err on the side of taking abusive content down.
Examples:
The context of this swastika is historical, not hateful, so it's ok.
In general, comments on public figures are ok.
Comments on race in current events aren't inherently racist, so this meme is ok.
No content that condones illegal or violent activity.
Content depicting, condoning, making light of, or advocating illegal activity or violence will not be tolerated. This may include content containing:
child abuse and exploitation (includes photo, video, print, artwork)
rape and domestic abuse
sales of illegal substances or products requiring permits and/or licenses including pharmaceuticals, narcotics, pets, or firearms
fraudulent or deceptive content intended to spread false information or exploit
false impersonation
brutal fights
graphic injuries
depictions of human death
graphic violence
You may not post content that is intended to incite, condone, or advocate for others to commit violence, mocks victims of violence, or includes a direct and specific threat of violence to others.
Examples:
Non-explicit images that document or memorialize historic events are ok.
Drugs are illegal, but images of drugs are not.
Stalking is illegal, but jokes mentioning it are not, so this is ok.
No gore or shock content.
Gore may include the depiction of vivid and realistic acts of violence and brutality. Don't post gore just to be shocking. Don't showcase the mutilation or torture of human beings, animals, or their remains. Don’t post content intended to disgust or shock the community.
This may include content containing:
showcasing animal abuse
excretion of bodily fluids intended to disgust
dissection of animals for shock
Examples:
We don't consider animal nature to be gore, so this is ok.
In general, special effects aren't considered realistic violence, so this is ok.
No posting personal information.
To protect the safety of private individuals, we don't allow anything that reveals other people's personally identifiable information. This includes, but is not limited to, phone numbers, home addresses, employment information, email addresses, full names with photos, and personal social media accounts of non-public figures without the consent of the original party.
No spam or prohibited behavior.
We value authentic and interesting content, so we do not welcome:
Spam (clickbait, affiliate linking, rapid-fire posting, unapproved commercial advertising for dubious products and services)
Entertainment spoilers for the purpose of trolling
Scripts or bots that act maliciously or non-transparently
Engaging in vote manipulation (using multiple accounts, voting services, or any other software to increase or decrease vote scores)
Doing anything that interferes with normal use of Imgur
Repeatedly creating multiple accounts to evade punishment or avoid restrictions
Examples:
This OP is providing value by showing Imgur something cool about their business, so it's not spam.
Self-promoting one's own art or talent is not spam, so this is ok.
No posts that violate Imgur’s terms of service.
Good Sharing Practices
Considering these tips when sharing with the Imgur community will help ensure you're contributing great content.
Value
Good sharing means posting content which brings value to the community. Content which opens up a discussion, shares something new and unique, or has a deeper story to tell beyond the image itself is content that generally brings value. Ask yourself first: is this something I would be interested in seeing on Imgur if someone else posted it?
Transparency
Imgurians expect that the original poster (OP) will be explicit about if and how they are connected to the content they are posting. Trying to hide that relationship, or not explaining it well to others, is a common feature of bad sharing.
Respect
Good sharing means knowing when the Imgur community has spoken through upvotes and downvotes and respecting that. You should avoid constantly reposting content to User Submitted that gets downvoted. This kind of spamming annoys the community, and it won't make your posts any more popular.
Repeated violations of the good sharing practices after warning may result in account ban.
If content breaks these community rules, it will be removed and the original poster warned about the removal. Warnings will expire. If multiple submissions break the rules in a short time frame, warnings will accumulate, which could lead to a 24-hour suspension, and further, a ban. To learn more about Imgur's moderation and reporting system, please visit our FAQ.
If you aren't sure if your post fits the community rules, please don't post it. Just because you've seen a rule-breaking image posted somewhere else on Imgur doesn't mean it's okay for you to repost it.
If you feel you've been wrongly warned, suspended or banned for your activity on Imgur, or have a general question about the community rules or moderation, please contact Imgur Help for assistance at any time.