Graphic and Violent Content on Social Media – Know Your Rights

Graphic and violent content is one of the most heavily moderated categories on social media and one of the most prone to error. Platforms remove genuine war reporting, human rights documentation and medical imagery under automated policies that cannot distinguish context. At the same time, gratuitous violence, torture footage and content that glorifies harm often remains online despite repeated reports. If you are on either side of this problem, you have rights under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Since the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force, users can challenge unfair moderation decisions through a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body. User Rights is the first such body certified under Article 21 DSA in Europe for social media platforms, certified by the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). The procedure is free of charge for users. The platform bears the costs. You do not need to complete the platform's internal complaint procedure before turning to User Rights. All we require is proof that you submitted a report or filed an internal appeal through the platform's complaint mechanism. Cases are currently reviewed for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Our assessments are based on platform policies and, where relevant, EU law as well as national law, including German and Italian law in applicable cases.

What Is Graphic and Violent Content?

Graphic and violent content refers to imagery or footage depicting severe physical harm, death, gore or graphic suffering. On social media, this category covers everything from gratuitous videos of real-world violence shared for shock value, to documentary footage of war crimes, medical procedures or accidents captured for legitimate journalistic or educational purposes.

The central challenge is that these two types of content can look identical to an automated classifier. A video of an airstrike posted by a photojournalist to document a human rights violation is visually indistinguishable from the same footage shared to glorify the attack. Context determines whether the content serves a legitimate purpose. Platforms operating at scale systematically get this wrong, in both directions.

Example: An NGO worker posts a series of photographs from a conflict zone on Instagram documenting civilian casualties. The account is restricted and the posts removed within hours of publication under Meta's graphic violence policy, despite clear captions identifying the organisation and journalistic purpose. Meanwhile, a separate account sharing uncontextualised combat footage with approving commentary remains active after multiple reports. Both the moderation action in the first example, and the inaction in the second are reviewable measures.

Types of graphic and violent content addressed by platform policies

Gratuitous gore, torture or death footage shared for shock value
Videos glorifying or celebrating real-world violence against people or animals
Content depicting executions, lynchings or acts of extreme cruelty
Uncontextualised graphic accident or disaster footage
War or conflict imagery shared without journalistic or documentary framing
Medical or forensic imagery misrepresented as entertainment
Content that uses graphic imagery to threaten or intimidate a specific person

Graphic and Violent Content Policies on Social Media Platforms

All platforms covered by User Rights are subject to the DSA, which requires them to give reasons for moderation decisions and to cooperate with certified dispute settlement bodies. Each platform maintains its own policy on graphic and violent content, with varying thresholds and public interest exceptions.

Meta: Instagram and Facebook

Meta's Violence and Graphic Content policy works in three tiers rather than a simple prohibition: content removed outright, content left up behind a warning screen and restricted to adults, and content permitted in full. Imagery of real-world violence shared to condemn it or raise awareness generally falls into the middle tier. The removal, warning screen and age restrictions are all reviewable moderation measures under the DSA.

TikTok

TikTok's Community Guidelines on Shocking and Graphic Content prohibit extremely graphic, violent or disturbing content, particularly where it could cause viewers emotional distress. Limited exceptions apply to documentaries, education, fiction and art. Enforcement is often not removal: graphic or potentially distressing footage of events in the public interest to view, such as clashes with law enforcement or the aftermath of a bombing, may be made ineligible for the For You feed rather than deleted. Content can therefore comply with the guidelines and still lose almost all reach. That decision is a moderation measure under the DSA and can be reviewed.

LinkedIn's Professional Community Policies prohibit sharing graphic or violent content that is not relevant to a professional context. LinkedIn has no documentary or newsworthiness carve-out comparable to the other platforms, so conflict-zone imagery posted by journalists, NGO staff or security researchers is assessed against a general prohibition rather than an exception. That makes the professional relevance of the post the argument to make.

YouTube

YouTube's Violent or Graphic Content policy operates on a tiered basis: content crossing an absolute threshold is removed; borderline footage may be age-restricted or made ineligible for recommendation rather than deleted. In some cases, YouTube may make exceptions for content with educational, documentary, scientific or artistic context, including content that is in the public's interest — and may leave such content visible behind a warning panel where appropriate. However, no exception applies to violent physical sexual assaults or footage filmed by the perpetrator during a deadly event. Automated enforcement frequently misclassifies conflict documentation and human rights footage as gratuitous violence. This policy is partially within User Rights' scope of review: fights involving minors and animal abuse content are out of scope; all other content-based decisions are reviewable.

X

X's Violent Content policy covers both Violent Speech and Violent Media. Graphic media may be shared if it is properly labelled, not prominently displayed and not excessively gory or depicting sexual violence. Content that explicitly threatens, incites, glorifies or expresses desire for violence is not permitted regardless of labelling. X may remove content or reduce its visibility. Correctly labelled documentary or journalistic footage that is removed without justification is challengeable. This policy is partially within User Rights' scope of review: violent sexual conduct falls outside scope; all other content-based decisions are reviewable.

Pinterest's Community Guidelines prohibit graphic violence, gore and content that glorifies or promotes harm. There is no documentary or newsworthiness exception, and the platform's stated limited allowance covers a small category rather than public interest content generally. In some cases, distribution of content is limited, meaning that the content is no longer suggested or available in the home feed.

Snapchat

Snapchat addresses graphic and violent content in the Threats, Violence and Harm section of its Community Guidelines, which prohibits content that encourages, promotes, threatens, provides instructions for, or graphically depicts violent or dangerous behaviour. This includes gratuitous or graphic violence, content glorifying violent or harmful behaviour, vigilante activity, and encouraging dangerous behaviour likely to cause serious harm or injury. Where content indicates a credible and imminent threat to human life or safety, Snapchat may alert law enforcement. This policy is partially within User Rights' scope of review: animal abuse content falls outside scope; all other content-based moderation decisions are reviewable.

What Can You Do if You Are Affected?

There are two situations in which User Rights can help: the platform has not acted on graphic or violent content you reported, or your own content – journalistic, documentary or educational – has been removed as graphic violence without justification.

Scenario A: Graphic violent content you reported was not removed

Document the content: Screenshot or record the URL, profile name, date and time of the content before reporting. Note the specific reason you believe it violates the platform's policy, i.E. whether it glorifies violence, lacks any contextual or journalistic framing, or depicts real-world harm with approving commentary.
Report to the platform: Use the in-built reporting function. Select the most specific category available – 'graphic violence' or 'promotion of violence' rather than a generic 'I don't like this' option. Keep a record of your report reference number if one is provided.
Appeal if dismissed: If the platform does not act, appeal via the help centre or the dismissal notification and keep a record of the response. Please note: After a waiting period of seven days expired, you do not have to wait for a response. You can submit a case with User Rights using only the proof of submission with the platform's internal complaint mechanism.
Submit to User Rights: If the platform's inaction was inconsistent with its own graphic violence policy or the platform didn't react at all, submit a complaint. User Rights will assess whether the platform applied its policy consistently.

Scenario B: Your legitimate content was removed as graphic or violent

Check the reason: Under Art. 17 DSA platforms must give a specific reason for every removal. Verify whether the reason applies to your content – for example, whether a journalistic caption, source label or content warning was present and whether the platform's policy explicitly permits your type of content.
Appeal internally: Use the platform's appeal mechanism. Provide context that demonstrates the public interest purpose of your content – your organisation, the context in which the footage was captured and the editorial purpose it serves. You do not have to wait for a response by the platform after seven days from the date of your internal complaint. Please always provide evidence of your internal complaint case when you submit a case with User Rights.
Submit to User Rights: If the internal appeal was unsuccessful or unanswered, submit your case via our online form. User Rights will assess whether the removal was consistent with the platform's community guidelines.

Note: User Rights does not review the content of direct messages, or moderation actions that were taken more than six months ago. A full overview of what falls within scope is available on the scope of review page.

Was your journalistic or documentary content removed as graphic violence – or did a platform ignore violent content you reported?

Submit your case to User Rights. Our certified dispute settlement procedure is free of charge for users.

SUBMIT A CASE

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Yes. All major platforms explicitly permit journalistic and documentary content that depicts graphic or violent events in a public interest context. If your content fell within this exception and was removed anyway, the removal was inconsistent with the platform's own policy and is reviewable by User Rights.

Whether the absence of a content warning justifies removal depends on the platform's specific policy. Some platforms require sensitivity screens for graphic content even when it is otherwise permitted; others treat this as optional. User Rights will assess whether the removal was proportionate given the platform's own stated rules.

User Rights reviews moderation decisions where the graphic content policy was applied to restrict or remove content. Exceptions are: content showing harm against or abuse of children. A full overview of what falls within scope is available on the scope of review page.

Graphic violent content refers to imagery or footage of actual violence, i.e. something that happened and was recorded. Online threats are statements directed at a specific person announcing future harm. The two can overlap – for example, when graphic imagery is used to threaten someone – but they are addressed under different platform policies. In this case, User Rights will review any applicable platform policy.

The procedure is free of charge for users. The platform bears the costs of the dispute settlement process.

No. When you report content you believe breaches a platform's rules, we assess it against all of the platform's policies, not only the one you cited. If several apply, the decision will name each of them. If only one applies, the decision names that one. You do not need to identify the correct policy for your case to be reviewed properly.

The decisions of User Rights are formally non-binding. However, platforms are required under the DSA to cooperate with certified dispute settlement bodies in good faith and to implement decisions in practice. Non-compliance can be escalated to the competent Digital Services Coordinator.