YouTube · YouTube Community Guidelines · View original document ↗

Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Organization Content Prohibition

Medium severity Unique · 0 of 325 platforms
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Recent governance activity YouTube recorded 2 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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Document Record

What it is

YouTube prohibits content that praises, promotes, or aids violent extremist or criminal organizations, using government and international organization designations to define what counts as such an organization.

This analysis describes what YouTube's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This provision establishes content moderation standards that align YouTube's platform with legal and regulatory frameworks governing terrorist and criminal organization designations. It structures how the platform enforces compliance with governmental threat classification systems.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium Apr 24, 2026

YouTube's updated Community Guidelines now explicitly state the platform is expanding likeness detection technology to protect civic leaders and journalists from deepfakes and synthetic media, not just creators and artists. This broadens the scope of automated protection against manipulated video and audio content. While the change does not alter user obligations or remove rights, it signals that detection and enforcement of synthetic media policies may increase for content involving public figures and professional journalists.

View change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

This provision affects both viewers' access to certain content and creators' ability to publish material touching on politically sensitive topics. The reliance on government designation lists means enforcement may vary by jurisdiction and reflect geopolitical considerations beyond YouTube's own editorial standards.

How other platforms handle this

TikTok Medium

We may remove or restrict access to any content, including yours, whether publicly or privately posted, for any reason, including if (a) it violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or other conditions or policies, (b) it may cause harm to, or violate the rights of, our users, TikTok USDS Join...

WhatsApp Medium

In order to operate and provide our Services, you grant WhatsApp a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, display, and perform the information (including the content) that you upload, submit, store, s...

Airbnb Medium

By making available any Member Content on or through the Airbnb Platform, you hereby grant to Airbnb a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual (or for the term of the protection), sub-licensable and transferable license to such Member Content to access, use, store, copy, modif...

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Monitoring

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ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

The use of government and international organization designations (e.g., OFAC, UN Security Council lists) as enforcement inputs creates compliance complexity for global platform operators and raises questions about due process for creators whose content intersects with contested designations. GIFCT membership also signals alignment with voluntary industry counter-terrorism commitments that may be relevant to regulatory assessments in the UK and EU.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC is relevant if counter-terrorism content enforcement is applied in ways that are unfair, opaque, or inconsistent with disclosed platform standards.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

DMCA
United States Federal
DSA
European Union

Provision details

Document information
Document
YouTube Community Guidelines
Entity
YouTube
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 15, 2026
Last verified
March 15, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-000782
Document ID
CA-D-00116
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
dd96031a4f66fda702c2761e9aad781a58da0163298169ed78f7f4a8b6bfa93c
Analysis generated
March 15, 2026 12:11 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: YouTube
Document: YouTube Community Guidelines
Record ID: CA-P-000782
Captured: 2026-03-15 12:11:40 UTC
SHA-256: dd96031a4f66fda7…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/youtube/youtube-community-guidelines/counter-terrorism-and-criminal-organization-content-prohibition/
Accessed: May 20, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does YouTube's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Organization Content Prohibition clause do?

This provision establishes content moderation standards that align YouTube's platform with legal and regulatory frameworks governing terrorist and criminal organization designations. It structures how the platform enforces compliance with governmental threat classification systems.

How does this clause affect you?

This provision affects both viewers' access to certain content and creators' ability to publish material touching on politically sensitive topics. The reliance on government designation lists means enforcement may vary by jurisdiction and reflect geopolitical considerations beyond YouTube's own editorial standards.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with YouTube?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube.