Guide to Safety Levels for Nudity & Sexual Content:
Note: Free accounts are limited to posting Safe content only. Members interested in uploading Moderate or Restricted content will need to upgrade to Pro.
There are several factors that should be considered when selecting your safety level for nudity and sexual content. Factors may include, without limitation: photo location and background, profile, photostream content, focus of image, tags, groups, and description. This includes your buddy icon and cover photo. Context and your intent in posting nudity or sexual content should also be considered.
Note: All content must be properly moderated, regardless of Privacy Setting. This includes posts marked as Friends and/or Family and Private.
Images using pixelation, blurring, shapes, or other methods to censor mature content should still be moderated according to the underlying imagery.
Safe (Content that is generally acceptable to a global, public audience.)
As a general rule, any content that contains nudity or is sexually suggestive or explicit must NOT be posted as Safe. In regard to nudity only, there are a few cases where it may be permitted under the Safe safety level.
Nudity includes any content that shows exposed genitalia and buttocks. It can also include some imagery of female nipples, although such imagery is allowed in the context of breastfeeding, birth-giving and after-birth moments, or in medical situations (post-mastectomy, as part of gender confirmation surgery, or as part of breast cancer awareness initiatives).
Nudity is also generally allowed in the following contexts:
- Educational (ex: anatomy diagrams or sexual health awareness materials).
- Newsworthy (ex: major events or incidents as long as nudity is not a primary focus).
- Artworks (ex: paintings and sculptures as long as nudity is not a primary focus).
Additionally, content that qualifies as Safe should not contain links to adult websites, have sexually explicit tags or descriptions, or be included in sexually explicit groups.
Note: Medically graphic content, such as imagery showing open wounds, graphic surgical procedures, or other intense medical situations, should not be posted as Safe.
A good rule of thumb to follow is that if your content may be considered too mature for the general public the appropriate safety level should be Moderate or Restricted. If you’re unsure, you should select the more restrictive safety setting as a precaution.
Moderate (Content that may be unacceptable to some audiences.)
Photos or videos that depict partial nudity or are sexually suggestive must at minimum have a safety setting of Moderate. This applies to both real and virtual photography or videos.
Common examples of content that should have the Moderate safety setting include:
- Exposed or visible female nipples (including areolas, nipple covers/pasties, or see-through attire exposing nipples).
- Sexually suggestive poses and attire intended to arouse the viewer or that would generally be unacceptable to a general, public audience.
- Other non-explicit or non-graphic imagery for the purposes of sexual gratification (for example, close-up images of clothed or unclothed breasts or buttocks, or clothed genitalia, fetishes and fetish-related paraphernalia).
- Artworks representing nudity or sexually suggestive subjects, as long as the artwork is not sexually explicit.
Restricted (Content that must be restricted to limited audiences only.)
Photos that depict full frontal nudity and/or explicit sexual acts must have a safety setting of Restricted. This applies to both real and virtual photography.
Note: Videos containing full frontal nudity that do not meet the criteria for Safe content described above and sexually explicit videos (ex: video pornography) are not permitted on Flickr.
Common examples of photos that should have the Restricted safety setting include:
- Full frontal nudity (exposed or visible genitalia, anus, etc.)
- Sexual fluids.
- Explicit depictions or simulations of sexual acts, clothed or unclothed (visible erections, masturbation, fondling, fellatio, intercourse, fetishes, etc.).
- Other explicit or graphic imagery for the purposes of sexual gratification (for example, sex toys or used fetish-related paraphernalia).
In addition, photos with links to websites featuring nudity or sexual content in their descriptions, sexually explicit tags, or photos that are added to sexually explicit groups must be posted as Restricted.
Sexual content that is not permitted on Flickr
While Flickr permits a wide range of mature content, there are several types of content that are strictly prohibited.
For a list of things that are not permitted on Flickr, see here.