Policies & Guidelines
As a YouTube Creator you’re part of a community, working together to protect the community and keep YouTube a positive place for creating, sharing, and watching. Everyone has a part to play in making YouTube what it is.
Why Policies & Guidelines exist
Our Policies & Guidelines are designed to keep our community of Creators, viewers, and advertisers protected, and to encourage Creators to take responsibility for their part in this effort. They set out what is and is not allowed on YouTube, and apply to all content across the platform.
We believe that a broad range of perspectives is key to a diverse, informed, and engaged society. That's why we have policies and guidelines, ranging from content to behavior to copyright, to help build a safer community for Creators, viewers, and advertisers.
We want you to have the opportunity to create, share, and connect on YouTube. And we want to create a platform where Creators, and viewers—feel protected.
Our Policies & Guidelines are designed to create a space that supports Creators, protects creative ownership, and enables them to realize their potential.
Simply put, without policies there’s no way to maintain a system that allows Creators to make money through their channels. All monetizing Creators who are publishing content on YouTube must already be part of the YouTube Partner Program, and abide by our Community Guidelines and Monetization Policies.
If Creators want to monetize their content by running advertisements, you need to follow our Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines, in addition to our broader Monetization Policies.
However, you can use non-ads monetization tools such as Channel Memberships and Super Chat on videos with ads turned off, as long as they adhere to YouTube Partner Program Guidelines.
What policies do you need to know when you’re creating content?
YouTube policies are all about what content Creators can, and cannot, post on their channel. Let’s take a look at some of these key areas, so you know what you need to know.
Community Guidelines help make YouTube a welcoming community for viewers, Creators, and advertisers. Content that violates these guidelines is not eligible for monetization, and will be removed from YouTube.
