Community Guidelines

It’s important to us that the experiences and perspectives shared on Periscope help foster an inclusive community. We’ve developed these Guidelines as a way to help you understand the types of content and dialogue to avoid in order to help us achieve this. We ask that you seek to understand their spirit and intent, and work with us to uphold them.

In short, acknowledge others’ sensitivities and viewpoints, and seek to add to the conversation, rather than detract from it.

The Basics

While there are a number of factors that we evaluate to determine whether or not we remove content, there are some basic rules that everyone on Periscope should follow.

Do not post content that:

  • Depicts pornography or sexual acts. This includes intercourse, masturbation, and sexual nudity. Nudity that is intentionally artistic, educational, or associated with newsworthy events may be acceptable. We also have zero tolerance for any form of child sexual exploitation.
  • Promotes or depicts unnecessary violence or graphic imagery. We understand that sometimes graphic content can be newsworthy, so we may allow broadcasts that are deemed as such.
  • Encourages, promotes, or depicts self-harm or suicide. When we receive reports that a person is threatening suicide or self harm, we may take a number of steps to assist them, such as reaching out to that person expressing our concern and providing resources such as contact information for our mental health partners.
  • Has an unlawful purpose or furthers illegal activity. We ask that you agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
  • Intends to impersonate a person or brand with the intent to mislead, confuse, or deceive others. Parody, commentary, or fan accounts should be labeled as such.
  • Infringes on another's intellectual property. We will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable law and are properly provided to us. If you believe that your content has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you can report it to us here. You can submit trademark reports for Periscope here.

Do not engage in dialogue or behavior that:

  • Intends only to incite or engage in the targeted harassment of others. This includes content that promotes the abuse of other people or the disruption of another person’s broadcasting experience.
  • Directly or indirectly threatens or encourages any form of physical violence against an individual or any group of people, including threatening or promoting terrorism. This includes affiliating with organizations that - whether by their own statements or activity both on and off the platform - use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes.
  • Discloses or threatens to expose someone’s private information without their consent. This includes releasing another person’s private or confidential contact info, or their videos or images that are considered and treated as private under applicable laws.
  • Endangers minors. This includes directing inappropriate comments to minors in a broadcast.
  • Spams our users or attempts to manipulate the Periscope platform. Read more about how we define spam here.
  • Seeks to evade a suspension. All suspensions on Periscope apply to the account holder. Attempts to circumvent suspensions by creating additional accounts or identities will result in the permanent disabling of said accounts.

We’re committed to doing our part to keep our community safe. You can also help us maintain a strong and vibrant community. Here is how you can help:

  • As a broadcaster you can control who can comment in your broadcast by selecting the ‘Only users you follow’ toggle before going live. If you’re a viewer, you have the option to hide comments at any time during a broadcast.
  • If you see an offensive, abusive, or spammy comment made in a broadcast, you can report it by tapping on the comment and selecting the report option.
  • If you see something that you think may violate our Guidelines, please report it by using our in-app reporting option. We have a team that reviews these reports and works as quickly as possible to remove content that violates our Community Guidelines.
  • You may find content that offends you or that you simply don’t like, but that doesn’t violate the Community Guidelines. If that happens, you can unfollow or block the user who posted it.
  • If you come across an issue or problem that can’t be addressed through the above outlined actions, you can notify our team by writing to us here. Please provide as much information as possible, including links, usernames, and a description of the issue you’re having.
  • We ask that you seek to understand the diverse opinions and viewpoints that are represented on Periscope. If you find yourself in a disagreement, it can oftentimes be resolved by simply disengaging from the back and forth with the individual(s) involved.

Please note that breaking the Guidelines outlined here may result in the removal of your content and/or the temporary or permanent disabling of your account.

By using Periscope, you agree to uphold our Community Guidelines and our Terms of Service. For more information, check out our Help Center.