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Guide to Safety Levels

Updated

Important: Free accounts are limited to posting Safe content only. Members interested in uploading Moderate or Restricted content will need to upgrade to Pro.


Safety Levels let other members know that your content might contain nudity, sexual themes, or graphic imagery that some have chosen not to see. All content posted to Flickr must be set to the appropriate Safety Level (Safe, Moderate, or Restricted), regardless of the Privacy Setting. This includes posts marked as Friends and/or Family and Private.

As detailed below, selecting the appropriate Safety Level for your content involves considering the overall image, its subject, context, and primary elements, as well as its description and tags.

Only Safe content can be used in Profile and cover photos. In addition, 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 containing nudity, sexually suggestive material, gore, or other graphic imagery should 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 (for example: anatomy diagrams or sexual health awareness materials.)
  • Newsworthy (for example: major events or incidents as long as nudity is not a primary element.)
  • Artworks (for example: paintings and sculptures as long as nudity is not a primary element.)

Note: Medically graphic content, such as imagery showing open wounds, graphic surgical procedures, or other intense medical situations, should not be posted as Safe.

Additionally, content that qualifies as Safe should not contain links to any Moderate or Restricted content mentioned below, have sexually explicit tags or descriptions, or be included in sexually explicit groups. 

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 just to be on the safe side.

 

Moderate 

Content that may be unacceptable to some audiences

Photos or videos that depict partial nudity, are sexually suggestive, or some forms of graphic content must have a safety setting of moderate at least. This applies to both real and virtual photography or videos.

Common examples of content that should have the moderate safety setting include:

 

Nudity & Sexual Content

Graphic & Violent Content
  • 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.
  • Injuries with significant bleeding, but no exposed internal trauma;
  • Extreme body modification practices;
  • Settings or backdrops featuring significant amounts of blood, even in the absence of injured subjects;
  • Animal remains with significant blood or exposed internal trauma, including in hunting, animal husbandry, or natural settings.

Restricted 

Content that must be restricted to limited audiences only

Photos that depict full frontal nudity, explicit sexual acts, or excessive gore and graphic violence 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 (e.g. video pornography) are not permitted on Flickr.

Common examples of photos that should have the restricted safety setting include:

 

Nudity & Sexual Content

Graphic & Violent Content
  • Full frontal nudity (exposed or visible genitalia, anus, etc…);
  • Pubic hair directly over the pubic or genital area;
  • 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).
  • Visible catastrophic injuries: exposed internal trauma or blunt-force trauma;
  • Human remains outside of peaceful funeral or bereavement contexts;
  • Ongoing or imminent lethal violence.

In addition, photos with descriptions linking to websites featuring nudity, sexual content, or excessively graphic content, photos with sexually explicit names, descriptions or tags, or photos that are added to sexually explicit groups must be posted as Restricted.

 

Content that is not permitted on Flickr

While Flickr permits a wide range of mature content there are several types of content that we do not permit. For a list of things that are not permitted on Flickr, see here.

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