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Sharing our policy development process

We continually improve our policy development and enforcement strategies to keep users safe.

Collage of images shows icons of safe and secure content, a man working in an office.

Why we create policies

Our policies articulate the purpose and intended use of a given product or service, from our Community Guidelines to our Terms & Conditions.
‘Our Policies’ is surrounded by icons to represent how data, law, experts, and world events influence policy development.

How we create policies

Our policies are created after careful research, engaging with experts and, when appropriate, we consider relevant laws. As the landscape changes, our policies evolve – helping to prevent abuse while allowing businesses and creators to reach new audiences and grow.

Data, law, world events and experts guide our policy development. We combine learnings from data scientists and expert sources to build policies that make the web safer and improve accessibility and user experience. We are constantly staying abreast of breaking events to make sure that our policies are in the right place.

Laws and regulation provide rules and roadmaps to help ensure that we protect users, address harm and improve accountability. We may partner with academic, scientific and industry experts and sometimes use feedback from users and creators.

Designing for safety

Our policy development process consists of four major phases:

  • Gather examples; identify common themes

    Review evidence of harm, identify common themes, and view similar examples.

  • Draft policy standards; enforcement guidance

    Assess impact, determine enforcement mechanisms, and consult experts.

  • Assess effectiveness; continuously review

    Launch, test, and refine policy, assess effectiveness, and review enforcement actions and appeals.

Why our product policies differ

Our policies and Community Guidelines share the same mission to keep all users safe. Each of our features is different – so we have built specific policies for each feature based on the following five factors.

  • Storage and sources of content

    We approach product policies differently when we’re hosting content versus when we’re indexing.

  • Public or private content

    We approach product policies differently when we enable public dissemination versus when privacy expectations are higher.

  • Recommended content

    We may approach policies differently for features that organise or suggest content to users.

  • Providing products and services

    We approach product policies differently when we own a service versus when we only provide the infrastructure for someone else.

  • Monetisation

    We approach product policies differently when a feature enables monetisation or facilitates transactions.

How product policies differ

From cloud-based storage to creator-focused products, our policies vary by product based on product purpose and user expectation.

  • YouTube

    Viewers and Creators around the world use YouTube to express their ideas and opinions freely, and we believe that a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society. That's why we have policies to help build a safer community.

Dive deeper with these additional resources