The Threads violent content policy is crucial for users to understand so that they aren’t potentially banned or suspended from the social media platform. Images and videos or fighting, gore, death, and otherwise NSFL material may not be allowed. Meta’s Threads by Instagram is a popular alternative to Twitter, but similar to NSFW sexual images and general censorship, their policies on violent posts and their enforcement of them work differently. Here’s whether violence is allowed on Threads.
Is violence or violent content allowed on Threads?
In general, graphic violence and credible threats of violence are not allowed on Threads, but there are exceptions to the rule.
The Threads Community Guidelines, which are effectively the Instagram Community Guidelines, mentions violence and violent content in multiple places. Users may not encourage violence or attack others based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, or diseases. Any serious threats to harm are not allowed either, and this includes threats of theft and financial harm.
In an official blog, Instagram states that it will remove videos and images of “intense, graphic violence” so that the platform “stays appropriate for everyone.” This means that gore content, in addition to images and videos of someone dying or committing self-harm, will nearly always be taken down. Any graphic images made to glorify violence or for sadistic pleasure are not permitted either.
The app does make an exception for newsworthy events (i.e. war, protests, etc.), especially in terms of educating or raising awareness. In these instances, though, Threads does recommend, if possible, that users caption any photos or videos with a warning on graphic violence. Fighting in mainly professional contexts like boxing, martial arts, or combat training is normally permitted.
That said, any posts that include violence is subject to community reports, so they may still be taken down by users. The content may also be placed under Sensitive Content Control, which means the post isn’t removed but is just harder to find on the platform.
