Sale of illegal or regulated goods or services policies


 
The safety of our creators, viewers, and partners is our highest priority. We look to each of you to help us protect this unique and vibrant community. It’s important you understand our Community Guidelines, and the role they play in our shared responsibility to keep YouTube safe. Take the time to carefully read the policy below. You can also check out this page for a full list of our guidelines.

Content intended to sell certain regulated goods and services is not allowed on YouTube.

If you find content that violates this policy, report it. Instructions for reporting violations of our Community Guidelines are available here. If you've found a few videos or comments that you would like to report, you can report the channel.

What this policy means for you

If you're posting content

Don't post content on YouTube if it aims to directly sell,  link to, or facilitate access to any of the regulated goods and services listed below. Making the sale of these items or facilitating the use of these services possible by posting links, email, phone number or other means to contact a seller directly is not allowed.

  • Alcohol
  • Bank account passwords, stolen credit cards, or other financial information
  • Counterfeit documents or currency
  • Controlled narcotics and other drugs
  • Explosives
  • Organs
  • Endangered species or parts of endangered species
  • Firearms and certain firearms accessories
  • Nicotine, including vaping products
  • Online gambling sites not yet reviewed by Google or YouTube
  • Pharmaceuticals without a prescription
  • Sex or escort services
  • Unlicensed medical services
  • Human smuggling

This policy applies to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams, and any other YouTube product or feature. Please note this is not a complete list.

Examples

Here are some examples of content that’s not allowed on YouTube.

  • Linking to an online gambling or sports betting site that is not approved.
  • Selling counterfeit passports or providing instructions on creating forged official documents.
  • Advertising escort, prostitution, or erotic massage services.
  • Content instructing how to purchase drugs on the dark web.
  • A video of a user making a purchase with software that generates fake credit card numbers.
  • Including a link to an online pharmacy that does not require prescriptions.

Please remember these are just some examples, and don't post content if you think it might violate this policy.

What happens if content violates this policy

If your content violates this policy, we’ll remove the content and send you an email to let you know. If this is your first time violating our Community Guidelines, you’ll get a warning with no penalty to your channel. If it’s not, we’ll issue a strike against your channel. If you get 3 strikes, your channel will be terminated. You can learn more about our strikes system here.

  Visit Creator Academy for more

Would you rather learn about our Community Guidelines through videos and quizzes? Check out our Creator Academy course.

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