Hate Speech
We believe that people use their voice and connect more freely when they don’t feel attacked on the basis of who they are. That is why we don’t allow hate speech on Quote It. It creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.
We define hate speech as a direct attack against people — rather than concepts or institutions— on the basis of what we call protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease. We define attacks as violent or dehumanizing speech, harmful stereotypes, statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or dismissal, cursing and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanizing comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate, or exclude specific groups, and that are often linked with offline violence. We consider age a protected characteristic when referenced along with another protected characteristic. We also protect refugees, migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks. Similarly, we provide some protections for characteristics like occupation, when they’re referenced along with a protected characteristic. Sometimes, based on local nuance, we consider certain words or phrases as code words for PC groups.
Do not post:
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their aforementioned protected characteristic(s) or immigration status with:
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Violent speech or support in written or visual form
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Dehumanizing speech or imagery in the form of comparisons, generalizations, or unqualified behavioural statements (in written or visual form) to or about:
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Insects.
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Animals that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior.
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Filth, bacteria, disease and feces.
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Sexual predator.
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Subhumanity.
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Violent and sexual criminals.
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Statements denying existence.
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Designated dehumanizing comparisons, generalizations, or behavioural statements (in written or visual form).
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with:
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Generalizations that state inferiority (in written or visual form) in the following ways:
1. Physical deficiencies are defined as those about:
- Hygiene, including but not limited to: filthy, dirty, smelly.
- Physical appearance, including but not limited to: ugly, hideous.
2. Mental deficiencies are defined as those about:
- Intellectual capacity, including but not limited to: dumb, stupid, idiots.
- Education, including but not limited to: illiterate, uneducated.
- Mental health, including but not limited to: mentally ill, retarded, crazy, insane.
3. Moral deficiencies are defined as those about:
- Character traits culturally perceived as negative, including but not limited to: coward, liar, arrogant, ignorant.
- Derogatory terms related to sexual activity, including but not limited to: whore, slut, perverts.
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Other statements of inferiority, which we define as:
1. Expressions about being less than adequate, including but not limited to: worthless, useless.
2. Expressions about being better/worse than another protected characteristic, including but not limited to: "I believe that males are superior to females."
3. Expressions about deviating from the norm, including but not limited to: freaks, abnormal.
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Expressions of contempt (in written or visual form), which we define as:
1. Self-admission to intolerance on the basis of a protected characteristics, including but not limited to: homophobic, islamophobic, racist.
2. Expressions that a protected characteristic shouldn't exist.
3. Expressions of hate, including but not limited to: despise, hate.
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Expressions of dismissal, including but not limited to: don´t respect, don't like, don´t care for
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Expressions of disgust (in written or visual form), which we define as:
1. Expressions that suggest the target causes sickness, including but not limited to: vomit, throw up.
2. Expressions of repulsion or distaste, including but not limited to: vile, disgusting, yuck.
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Cursing defined as:
1. Referring to the target as genitalia or anus, including but not limited to: cunt, dick, asshole.
2. Profane terms or phrases with the intent to insult, including but not limited to: fuck, bitch, motherfucker.
3. Terms or phrases calling for engagement in sexual activity, or contact with genitalia, anus, feces or urine, including but not limited to: suck my dick, kiss my ass, eat shit.
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with any of the following:
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Segregation in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting segregation.
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Exclusion in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting, defined as:
1. Explicit exclusion, which means things like expelling certain groups or saying they are not allowed.
2. Political exclusion, which means denying the right to right to political participation.
3. Economic exclusion, which means denying access to economic entitlements and limiting participation in the labour market.
4. Social exclusion, which means things like denying access to spaces (physical and online) and social services, except for gender-based exclusion in health and positive support Groups.
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Content attacking concepts, institutions, ideas, practices, or beliefs associated with protected characteristics, which are likely to contribute to imminent physical harm, intimidation or discrimination against the people associated with that protected characteristic. Facebook looks at a range of signs to determine whether there is a threat of harm in the content. These include but are not limited to: content that could incite imminent violence or intimidation.
Content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words that are inherently offensive and used as insulting labels for the above characteristics.