Patreon's Creator Policy Engagement Program (CPEP) exists to ensure that the people most impacted by our policies have early visibility into proposed changes and an open line of communication with the Policy Team before policies are finalized.
Earlier this summer, as part of CPEP, we hosted our mid-year Patreon Connect livestream with VP of Trust & Safety Eric Han and Head of Platform Policy Travis Reed. On it, we walked through a new set of proposed updates to Patreon's Community Guidelines — focused on Hate Speech, Harassment, and Inauthentic Behavior. These changes are now live on our Community Guidelines page.
Here's a rundown of what's been updated, plus a look at a few other things happening across the Policy Team this year.
Updates to Hate Speech
Patreon has always had zero tolerance for hate speech. We’ve added more precise language in our Community Guidelines to better clarify the specific types of hate speech that are already prohibited.
Attacking people or groups of people on the basis of race is already treated as hate speech. However we decided to add the word "color" explicitly to the list of characteristics we consider when assessing if something is hate speech to make this more transparent. The full list of characteristics we consider now includes: caste, immigration status, national origin, race, color, ethnicity, religion, disability, serious medical condition, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
We’ve clarified that stereotypes that vilify or incite fear, discrimination, or violence aren’t tolerated.
We expanded language to address hate-based claims of superiority or inferiority, so it's explicit that claiming a group is inherently inferior or superior based on one or more of the characteristics listed in our Community Guidelines (see full list above) isn't permitted.
New language was added addressing symbols and coded terminology used to promote hate, including memes, content trends, or coded terms used to promote hate movements or hateful ideas.
These updates were developed in consultation with outside experts, including researchers and NGOs who specialize in hate speech, and we're grateful for their input.
Updates to Harassment
The Harassment updates are mostly about adding clarity and predictability around bullying, sexual harassment, and threats.
We specified that threats and expressions of harm are not allowed regardless of whether they're a specific and credible threat.
We reinforced that our community features cannot be used for bullying or unwanted sexual contact, including repetitive unwanted comments or chats, targeted insults, and pages solely dedicated to ridiculing, shaming, or degrading other people.
We’ve separated Sexual Harassment into its own subsection in the policy language, making clear that abusing Patreon's features to send unwanted or repeated sexual comments isn't permitted—including but not limited to behaviors like "cyberflashing" and other non-consensual sexual exposure, as well as using abusive sexual language to silence people on the platform.
Updates to Inauthentic Behavior
We've made updates to bring more precision to this section and better align it with industry best practices. Now, we more directly address malicious and deceptive behavior like phishing, deceptive redirects, malware distribution, and coordinated scam activity in our Community Guidelines. In response to feedback we heard from creators, we also prohibit joining Patreon with the explicit goal of taking other creators’ works to train AI systems.
We’re really excited about all of these updates and believe they’ll continue to help make Patreon a safe and friendly space for creativity to flourish.
Looking Ahead
For the remainder of this year, we'll be reviewing our guidelines on Harmful Acts, Violent and Graphic Works, and Hazardous Activities. These sections cover topics like depictions of suicide and self-harm, glorification of violence, and discussions of regulated goods and activities.
To support that work, we've engaged with external subject matter experts, and will continue to do so in the months ahead. We’ll likely share updates on these policies in the new year.
Gratitude
A big Thank You! to everyone who joined our mid-year Patreon Connect livestream, submitted questions ahead of time, or weighed in with feedback. Engaging with creators and fans is critical to balancing our policies and holding ourselves accountable.