Certain content may be allowed when shared for educational, documentary, scientific, artistic, or public-interest purposes. If you come across material that appears to violate this policy, you can report it. Some links referenced in policy pages may not be clickable.
What This Means for Creators
If you upload content to YouTube, avoid including links that direct users to material that breaks YouTube’s Community Guidelines. This applies to links shared in videos, descriptions, comments, live streams, channel pages, and other platform features. The examples below are not exhaustive.
Prohibited links may include:
- Links to pornographic websites or adult content
- Links to sites or apps containing malware or harmful software
- Links designed to steal passwords, financial information, or login credentials through phishing
- Links offering unauthorized access to paid media, software, video games, streaming platforms, or copyrighted content
- Links promoting or fundraising for terrorist organizations
- Links leading to child sexual abuse material (CSAI)
- Links to websites selling products restricted under YouTube’s regulated goods policies
- Links to content that violates hate speech or harassment rules
- Links encouraging violence or harmful criminal acts
- Links to deceptive or misleading content that could cause serious public harm, including election misinformation
- Links to violent extremist manifestos or similar harmful material
This policy applies regardless of how the link is presented. Violations can include clickable URLs, written-out web addresses shown in videos or images, disguised links (such as replacing “.com” with “dot com”), verbal instructions directing viewers elsewhere, or encouraging viewers to visit external profiles containing prohibited content.
Affiliate links are generally allowed under YouTube’s Terms of Use. However, accounts focused heavily on repetitive affiliate promotions may violate spam or deceptive practices policies.
Examples of Violative Content
Examples of content that may violate this policy include:
- A sexually suggestive video linking viewers to a pornographic website
- A gaming video promising free in-game currency but directing users to malware
- Sharing phishing links that steal banking details or passwords
- Asking viewers to manually type an external link leading to spam or adult sites
- Posting links that provide access to child sexual abuse imagery
- Directing viewers to another platform to view content banned on YouTube
- Including links that mislead voters about election procedures or eligibility
These examples are only illustrative. If a link could reasonably violate platform policies or endanger users, it should not be shared.
What Happens if the Policy Is Violated
If content breaks this policy, YouTube may remove the content and notify the creator by email. Links that cannot be confirmed as safe may also be removed. Violative links included directly within videos or metadata can result in the entire video being taken down.
For a first violation, creators will often receive a warning without an immediate penalty. In some cases, completing a policy training may allow the warning to expire after 90 days. The countdown begins once the training is completed. Repeating the same violation during that period may lead to a strike instead.
Channels that receive three strikes within 90 days may be terminated. Repeated violations, severe abuse, or channels dedicated primarily to policy-breaking content can also lead to account suspension or permanent removal. Repeat offenders may lose access to policy training opportunities in the future.
