At Pinterest, our mission is to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and it’s our guiding light in drafting and enforcing our content policies. 

Not everything on the internet is inspiring, so we have guardrails for what’s acceptable on Pinterest and what isn’t allowed. Our moderation practices are always evolving to keep up with new behaviors and trends and to create a more positive corner of the internet for the people on our platform. We continue to invest heavily in measures like machine learning technology to fight policy-violating content on Pinterest and to work with outside experts and organizations to inform our policies and content moderation practices.

We started publishing a biannual transparency report in 2013, and expanded it starting with Q4 2020 to include more information on the actions we take to uphold our Community guidelines. In this transparency report, you’ll find information on our efforts to moderate user and merchant content, such as the number of policy violations and deactivations. It also includes insight into the volume of information and deactivation requests we received from law enforcement and government agencies. This report, which encompasses more than 400 individual data points, covers the first half of 2022, from January through June 2022.

Pinterest’s industry-leading policies and practices are something we’re proud of. But more importantly, they’re the right thing for the people on our platform. They help to keep Pinterest a more positive and inspiring place online—for example, we prioritize mental health with features like our compassionate search function, and help protect users under our longstanding policy prohibiting medical misinformation. We want to advance the industry on these issues so that—together—we can create a more inspiring internet.

We’ve continued to expand our reporting to provide greater insight into our efforts, and in this transparency report, we’ve added a new section on Climate Misinformation.

Our new policy makes Pinterest the first major digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or misleading climate change information, including conspiracy theories, across content and ads.

As part of our Community guidelines on misinformation and disinformation, our climate misinformation policy actions content that may harm the public’s well-being, safety or trust, including: 

Tackling issues like climate change or misinformation is complex, and requires the support and collaboration of an entire ecosystem. We have partnered with experts including the Climate Disinformation Coalition and the Conscious Advertising Network to help inform and develop our policy based on common misinformation themes they’re seeing across media platforms.

We’re committed to providing greater transparency into how we keep Pinterest safe and inspiring, and we’ll continue to iterate on this report going forward.

 

We continue to invest in our policies, products and partnerships to support the safety and wellbeing of our community. Here are just some of the key updates we made in the first half of 2022.

Pinterest is a leader in building product experiences with emotional wellbeing in mind. People turn to Pinterest to find encouragement and alleviate stress or anxiety and they’re discovering wellbeing techniques that work. That’s why we created compassionate search, which offers a collection of interactive activities to help Pinners safely access supportive resources to improve their mood if they are feeling stressed, anxious, sad or trying to manage difficult emotions. This year, we expanded the feature to 11 countries for a total reach of 23 countries. 

Earlier this year, Pinterest announced the international expansion of hair pattern search in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. Hair pattern search provides a more nourishing and inspiring experience for Pinners by enabling them to refine hair searches by six different hair patterns: protective, coily, curly, wavy, straight and shaved/bald. Hair pattern responds to the millions of Pinners around the world who are looking for an easier way to find the hair inspiration they are already searching for on Pinterest.

As the situation in Ukraine unfolded, we prioritized humanitarian aid for people affected and worked to keep our platform safe from disinformation.

Pinterest donated USD $250,000 to the International Rescue Committee and launched a special donation Pin to provide a trusted way for Pinners to be inspired to donate directly to the organization.

We also established a Ukraine Humanitarian Support Fund with multiple organizations for employees to contribute and matched all employee donations.

For International Transgender Day of Visibility, we highlighted trans creators through new channels like Pinterest TV, explored how people were using Pinterest to dig into trans topics and provided support to trans-led and -focused organizations. Internally, we celebrated our trans Pinployees, Pinners and Creators within Pinterest through a week of community programming, guest speakers and other activities.

Celebrating Trans Day of Visibility is part of Pinterest’s ongoing commitment to building an inspired culture and making Pinterest a safe place where everyone can create a life they love.

Pinterest’s Community guidelines are designed to support our mission of inspiration. They govern what we do and don’t allow on Pinterest, and all users must abide by them. 

We have additional guidelines for merchants and advertisers to set clear expectations about what is and is not acceptable for product Pins and advertisements. These guidelines include especially high standards that are for the safety of all audiences who use Pinterest. We believe you can’t feel inspired if you don’t first feel safe.

To help us cultivate a safe and inspired community, we develop and enforce content policies that help ensure our platform is a positive place where people can find real-life ideas for what to try next, cook next, wear next or do next. We work hard to identify and deactivate harmful content from our site, and our content policies and moderation practices are always evolving to keep up with new behaviors and trends and to create a more positive corner of the internet for users. 

We may block, limit the distribution of or deactivate content and the accounts, individuals and groups that create or spread that content, based on how much harm it poses. In the event that a user believes a deactivation was in error, Pinterest provides options to appeal the deactivation.

Every day, millions of people all over the world come to Pinterest to create, discover and save new ideas that are shared in Pins. To understand how we approach content moderation, it’s helpful to differentiate between two types of Pins: organic Pins and ads. Our Community guidelines apply to both.

Organic Pins include all Pins created and saved on Pinterest that are not promoted as ads. For example, this could include merchants’ product Pins, which aren’t always ads, and may appear organically to people who are searching for products on Pinterest. We have additional requirements for merchants and their product Pins, such as that the Pin image and description must accurately represent the product. All types of organic Pins are included in our transparency reports.

Ads are Pins that businesses pay to promote. We have additional policies for advertisers that hold ads and advertisers to even higher standards. Ad policies are enforced differently than organic content, and are not included in our transparency reports.

Much of the content on Pinterest has been saved repeatedly, meaning that the same image may appear in multiple Pins. So when it comes to reporting actions we take on organic Pins under our policies, we include the number of Pins deactivated as well as the number of distinct images deactivated to provide greater insight into our moderation practices for this type of content. 

We report boards and accounts deactivated separately. To avoid double-counting deactivations, our count of distinct images and Pins deactivated does not include those on boards or from user accounts that were deactivated.

We deactivate policy-violating Pins through automated tools, manual review and a hybrid approach that combines elements of both. 

Automated deactivations. Our automated tools use a combination of signals to identify and take action against potentially violating content. Our machine learning models assign scores to each image added to our platform. Using those scores, our automated tools can then apply the same enforcement decision to other Pins containing the same images.

Manual deactivations. We manually deactivate Pins through our human review process. Pins deactivated through this process may include those identified internally and those reported to us by third parties. It also includes the Pins that are reviewed and deactivated by one of our team members after a user report.

Hybrid deactivations. Hybrid deactivations include those where a human determines that a Pin violates policy, and automated systems help expand that decision to enforce against machine-identified matching Pins. Depending on the prevalence of matching Pins, a hybrid deactivation may result in a number of Pins deactivated or none at all. 

The mechanisms used to address different potential policy violations may vary based on the state of available technology, the volume of violative content and other factors such as the complexity of evaluation. We continue to iterate and evolve our tools and expect ongoing improvements going forward.

Deactivations for a policy category may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

People often ask, how many users saw a Pin before it was deactivated? In most cases, the answer is: not a lot. 

For example, 91% of Pins that we deactivated for medical misinformation in Q2 were never seen by users in that reporting period—even with more than 400 million people visiting Pinterest per month.

Reach is one of our key indicators of user experience. To calculate this metric, we start by looking at each policy-violating Pin deactivated in a reporting period. Then we count the number of unique users that saw each of those Pins during the reporting period for at least 1 second before it was deactivated. 

In this report, we’ve updated the labels we use to report this metric, but the underlying methodology has remained the same:

Reach for a policy category may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Users can report Pins they think violate our policies by clicking on the three small dots on any Pin and hitting “Report Pin.” Once we confirm that an item violates our Community guidelines and take appropriate action, we consider the report an actioned user report.

The total number of actioned user reports is another key indicator of user experience on Pinterest. So is the number of reporters: fewer than 0.01% of monthly active users reported a Pin that resulted in a Pin deactivation in Q2.

When users find Pins they like or want to come back to, they save them to boards that they’ve created. Over time, our users have created billions of boards. 

When a board is deactivated for violating policy, all the Pins on that board are also deactivated. Similarly, when we deactivate an entire account, that user’s boards are also deactivated. To avoid double-counting deactivations, our count of boards deactivated does not include those from user accounts that were deactivated.

Think of “accounts” on Pinterest as “profiles” or, most often, individual users. If someone saves Pins and creates boards, that content becomes associated with their account. This is also true for business, advertiser, merchant and creator accounts. 

Any account may be deactivated for violating our policies. When an account is deactivated, all of its Pins and boards are also deactivated. That means that if you search for them or click on an old link to their profile, that profile won’t show up anymore. Their Pins won’t appear anywhere on Pinterest. And the deactivated user won’t be able to access their own Pins or boards, either.

If people believe their accounts have been deactivated by mistake, they can appeal to try to have their accounts reinstated. We review appeal requests and grant the appeal if we determine we made a mistake, or in some cases to give people another chance to abide by our Community guidelines.

We also process appeals for deactivated Pins and boards and expect to include that data in reports in the future.

Our reporting on Community guidelines enforcement covers the first half of 2022, from January to June 2022. We’ve split that time into two reporting periods: Q1 and Q2. 

Q1 covers the first quarter of the year, from January through March, while Q2 covers the second quarter of the year, from April through June. Sometimes we also refer to Q3 (July to September) or Q4 (October to December) when we’re talking about quarter-over-quarter trends.

Pinterest isn’t a place for pornography. We take action against content that violates our adult content policy and do not deliver results for searches determined to violate this policy. We have established guidelines to help differentiate between pornography and other mature content such as content related to sexual health, breastfeeding, mastectomies, art and education.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q1 and Q2, 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

* See our methodology section above for details on how we calculate reach.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 975,774 distinct images, which comprised 22,309,237 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 78% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 61,599 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 47,965 boards and 7,699 accounts. We received 2,104 account appeals and reinstated 1,229 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 1,058,729 distinct images, which comprised 27,606,227 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 77% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 69,077 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 43,757 boards and 6,571 accounts for violating this policy. We received 1,674 account appeals and reinstated 1,070 accounts.

We prohibit adult sexual services on Pinterest. Adult sexual services may involve sexual exploitation or commercial sex work, such as escort services, sex cams, or sex- or nudity-for-money services.

We deactivated more Pins for violating our adult sexual services policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. This was the result of a hybrid deactivation of a small handful of images, which account for almost two-thirds of Pins deactivated in Q1 for violating this policy. 

Of the Pins we deactivated in Q1 and Q2, at least 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 6,052 distinct images, which comprised 208,296 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 95% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 158 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 129 boards and 117 accounts. We received 9 account appeals and reinstated 3 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 21,746 distinct images, which comprised 51,936 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 82% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 201 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 146 boards and 156 accounts for violating this policy. We received 4 account appeals and reinstated 1 account.

Pinterest does not tolerate child sexual exploitation (CSE) of any kind on our platform. That means we enforce a strict, zero-tolerance policy for any content—including imagery, video, or text—that might exploit or endanger minors. Detecting and removing this type of content is of the utmost importance to our Trust and Safety team, and we are proud of our broad-reaching policies and robust efforts to keep our users safe.

Pinterest’s CSE policy prohibits not just illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but goes a step further to prohibit any content that contributes to the sexualization of minors. For example, we do not tolerate content that suggests the sexualization of minors in the form of cartoons or anime. We also prohibit the intentional misuse of content depicting minors engaging in non-sexualized activities, like modeling clothing or participating in athletics.

We proactively identify CSE images and videos by leveraging our own internal tools and shared industry tools such as PhotoDNA, which uses a shared industry hash database of known CSAM, and CSAI Match to identify video content. We also work closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to combat this type of activity, and report content violations ​​as required under the law. From January to June 2022, our team of specialists was responsible for 4,969 CyberTipline reports to NCMEC.

CSE is one of the most serious harms addressed by Trust and Safety teams at Pinterest and across the internet. Because of this sensitivity, it deserves extra consideration as we decide how to present information in this report. After consulting with industry experts, Pinterest ultimately chose to include all of the same metrics for CSE that we include for our other content policies, including reach and actioned user reports. These types of metrics are our indicators for how policy-violating content impacts the experience of users on the site. However, we want to be very clear: By sharing reach and actioned user reports for CSE content, we are not implying in any way that harm to children is somehow lessened if fewer people see it. The content is violative and wrong, no matter how many people see it. We share the data only to be transparent in our efforts to remove CSE from our platform. 

We also count all deactivations for CSE, no matter what other actions may have already been taken against the Pin, board or user. For example, if a Pin has been automatically deactivated—meaning no one on the platform can see it—for violating our Spam policy but we later learn that it contains material that violates our CSE policy, the Pin is counted in both our Spam and CSE deactivation numbers. Even though that Pin had not been visible or accessible on Pinterest, we still need to take appropriate action, like making a report to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) if we determine that the image is illegal CSAM. We’ve included those deactivations in our reporting on CSE to provide more accurate insight into these violations.

While we work hard to find and remove this type of content, there is always more work to do—and we are committed to doing it.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 2,499 distinct images, which comprised 300,003 Pins, for violating our CSE policy. Of these, we determined that 184 distinct images, which comprised 542 Pins, were illegal CSAM, and we reported them to NCMEC. Of the total Pins deactivated this quarter for CSE, 97% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 1,735 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 492 boards and 10,743 accounts. We received 2,164 account appeals and reinstated 1,169 accounts. 

In Q2 2022, we saw an increase in Pin deactivations due to an update in our detection systems. We deactivated 9,085 distinct images, which comprised 712,295 Pins, for violating our CSE policy. Of these, we determined that 2,038 distinct images, which comprised 4,988 Pins, were illegal CSAM, and we reported them to NCMEC. Of the total Pins deactivated this quarter for CSE, 98% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 1% manually and 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 2,399 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 1,162 boards and 37,694 accounts for violating this policy. We received 7,467 account appeals and reinstated 5,971 accounts.

Our civic misinformation policy is one of several policies in our Community guidelines that prohibit misinformation and disinformation on Pinterest. This policy prohibits false or misleading content on Pinterest that impedes an election’s integrity or an individual’s or group’s civic participation, including registering to vote, voting and being counted in a census.

Fighting misinformation is complex and always evolving. Content enforcement numbers may change quarter-to-quarter depending on real-world events, such as the French presidential election in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 97% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 712 distinct images, which comprised 840 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 92% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 90% of Pins manually and 10% with hybrid tools. We actioned 339 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 42 boards and 10 accounts. We received 4 account appeals and reinstated 1 account.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 1,541 distinct images, which comprised 2,782 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 97% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 69% of Pins manually and 31% with hybrid tools. We actioned 315 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 33 boards and 9 accounts for violating this policy. We received 4 account appeals and reinstated 2 accounts.

In April 2022, Pinterest launched a new climate misinformation policy to keep false and misleading claims around climate change off the platform. As part of our Community guidelines that prohibit misinformation and disinformation, our climate misinformation policy removes content that may harm the public’s well-being, safety or trust, including things like content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change and false or misleading content about natural disasters and extreme weather events.

Our climate misinformation policy is yet another step in Pinterest’s journey to combat misinformation and create a safe space online. This policy makes Pinterest the first major digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or misleading climate change information, including conspiracy theories, across content and ads.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 1,120 distinct images, which comprised 1,218 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 13% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 99% manually and fewer than 1% with hybrid tools. We actioned 968 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 132 boards and 7 accounts for violating this policy. We received 0 account appeals and reinstated 0 accounts.

Our conspiracy theories policy is one of several policies in our Community guidelines that prohibit misinformation and disinformation on Pinterest. Conspiracy theories include content that turns or encourages turning individuals, groups of people, places or organizations into targets of harassment or physical violence, such as hate-based conspiracy theories and misinformation about mass atrocities.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 2,579 distinct images, which comprised 5,039 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 57% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 67% of Pins manually and 33% with hybrid tools. We actioned 556 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 223 boards and 19 accounts. We received 6 account appeals and reinstated 4 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 3,857 distinct images, which comprised 14,312 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 84% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 77% manually and 23% with hybrid tools. We actioned 506 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 311 boards and 19 accounts for violating this policy. We received 37 account appeals and reinstated 8 accounts.

Pinterest isn’t a place for trading or selling dangerous goods or engaging in dangerous activities. Dangerous goods are products or substances that might cause harm when used, altered or manufactured irresponsibly. Dangerous activities—including displaying or encouraging dangerous activities—are also not welcome on Pinterest.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 98% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 11,308 distinct images, which comprised 55,985 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 72% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 16% manually, 12% automatically and 72% with hybrid tools. We actioned 1,525 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 603 boards and 222 accounts. We received 12 account appeals and reinstated 2 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 12,253 distinct images, which comprised 81,286 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 98% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 12% of Pins manually, 7% automatically and 81% with hybrid tools. We actioned 2,328 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 583 boards and 245 accounts for violating this policy. We received 11 account appeals and reinstated 3 accounts.

We prohibit graphic violence and threats on Pinterest. This includes most content that shows the use of violence, threats and language that glorifies violence.

In Q1 2022, we saw a large increase in Pins deactivated compared to Q4 2021, in part because of the content related to the war in Ukraine. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q1 2022, 97% were seen by 100 or fewer users in that reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 9,662 distinct images, which comprised 124,008 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 97% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 9% of Pins manually and 91% with hybrid tools. We actioned 2,440 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 800 boards and 120 accounts. We received 25 account appeals and reinstated 9 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 12,845 distinct images, which comprised 96,854 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 96% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. We deactivated 27% of Pins manually and 73% with hybrid tools. We actioned 3,346 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 633 boards and 60 accounts for violating this policy. We received 25 account appeals and reinstated 14 accounts.

Pinterest is not a place for harassment and criticism, and we prohibit content that insults, hurts or antagonizes individuals or groups of people. This includes manipulated images intended to degrade or shame, shaming people for their bodies or assumed sexual or romantic history, sexual remarks about people’s bodies, solicitations or offers of sexual acts, and mocking someone for experiencing sadness, grief, loss or outrage.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 98% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 3,128 distinct images, which comprised 61,237 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 74% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 5% of Pins manually and 95% with hybrid tools. We actioned 3,506 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 931 boards and 197 accounts. We received 28 account appeals and reinstated 16 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 9,672 distinct images, which comprised 232,858 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 58% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 4% of Pins manually and 96% with hybrid tools. We actioned 6,446 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 1,356 boards and 266 accounts for violating this policy. We received 55 account appeals and reinstated 38 accounts.

We prohibit hateful content and the people and groups that promote hateful activities on Pinterest. Hateful activities include slurs and negative stereotypes, caricatures and generalizations, as well as support for hate groups and people promoting hateful activities.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 92% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 4,016 distinct images, which comprised 27,585 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 63% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 16% of Pins manually and 84% with hybrid tools. We actioned 2,004 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 726 boards and 105 accounts. We received 31 account appeals and reinstated 6 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 5,774 distinct images, which comprised 40,455 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 62% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 15% of Pins manually and 85% with hybrid tools. We actioned 3,603 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 705 boards and 76 accounts for violating this policy. We received 33 account appeals and reinstated 12 accounts. 

Our medical misinformation policy is one of several policies in our Community guidelines that prohibit misinformation and disinformation on Pinterest. This policy prohibits medically unsupported health claims that risk a user’s health or wider public health and safety, including the promotion of false cures, anti-vaccination advice, or misinformation about public health or safety emergencies. We rely on information from nationally and internationally recognized institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, to help us determine if content violates these guidelines.

Pinterest is deeply committed to combating health misinformation. We continue to engage with public health experts to stay on top of trends and get feedback on our policy and enforcement approaches for topics such as medical misinformation. 

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, more than 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 4,426 distinct images, which comprised 113,195 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 85% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 4% of Pins automatically, 3% manually and 93% with hybrid tools. We actioned 651 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 513 boards and 17 accounts. We received 4 account appeals and reinstated 1 account.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 3,906 distinct images, which comprised 262,909 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 91% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 2% of Pins automatically, 2% manually and 97% with hybrid tools. We actioned 573 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 299 boards and 4 accounts for violating this policy. We received 1 account appeal and reinstated 1 account.

Combating self-harm is a priority for us as we strive to ensure Pinterest plays a positive role in people’s lives. Content that displays, rationalizes or encourages suicide, self-injury, eating disorders or substance abuse isn’t welcome on our platform. This includes self-harm instructions, sensitive imagery, and suicidal thinking and quotes. We also block search terms related to self-harm. Currently our blocking list includes more than 25,000 terms.

Our ongoing partnership with Samaritans, an organization dedicated to reducing feelings of isolation and disconnection that can lead to suicide, continues to help the industry tackle self-harm content and make the internet a safer place for everyone. Partnerships like this help us support expert research and development within the field of mental health so that more people in need can find support, no matter what app or website they use.

We continued investing in work to improve content moderation for self-harm content. As a result, we saw a large increase in Pins deactivated in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period. 

We provided support millions of times to those in need by expanding compassionate search to 11 additional countries, a feature that offers a collection of interactive activities to help Pinners safely access supportive resources to improve their mood if they are feeling stressed, anxious, sad or trying to manage difficult emotions.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 6,574 distinct images, which comprised 107,059 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 71% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated 6% of Pins manually and 94% with hybrid tools. We actioned 1,917 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 16,144 boards and 61 accounts. We received 30 account appeals and reinstated 9 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 8,494 distinct images, which comprised 1,232,828 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 93% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% of Pins manually and 99% with hybrid tools. We actioned 2,270 user reports that resulted in a Pin deactivated for violating this policy. We also deactivated 14,667 boards and 29 accounts for violating this policy. We received 21 account appeals and reinstated 10 accounts.

We want the inspiration and ideas on Pinterest to be high-quality and useful, so we deactivate spam when we find it. The goal of spammers is to make money, and the best way to do this is to spam at scale. It’s a numbers game: one million spam emails are much more effective than one spam email. The same kinds of spamming efforts can happen on any content distribution platform, including Pinterest. Platforms’ interactions with spammers are generally both adversarial and iterative with users who intentionally try to evade the system and continually update their techniques.

At Pinterest, we use the latest in machine learning technology to build automated models that swiftly detect and act against spam of all kinds. We not only use the latest modeling techniques but also iterate on these models at regular intervals by adding new data and exploring new technical breakthroughs to either maintain or improve their performance over time to effectively address spam. Given the adversarial, iterative nature of fighting spam, content enforcement numbers may change quarter-to-quarter, especially after a large attack.

We deactivated fewer Pins for violating this policy in Q1 2022 than in Q2 2022. Of the Pins we deactivated in Q2, more than 99% were seen by 100 or fewer users in this reporting period.

In Q1 2022, we deactivated 35,243 distinct images, which comprised 74,941 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 60% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% of Pins manually and more than 99% automatically. We also deactivated 0 boards and 1,477,695 accounts for violating this policy. We received 98,156 account appeals and reinstated 79,469 accounts.

In Q2 2022, we deactivated 37,398 distinct images, which comprised 259,996 Pins, for violating this policy. Of these Pins, 89% were never seen by users in this reporting period. We deactivated fewer than 1% of Pins manually and more than 99% automatically. We also deactivated 10,543 boards and 1,680,646 accounts for violating this policy. We received 73,639 account appeals and reinstated 55,930 accounts.

Pinterest respects the intellectual property rights of others and we expect people on Pinterest to do the same. It’s our policy in appropriate circumstances to deactivate the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing copyrights or other intellectual property rights.

Pinterest provides multiple mechanisms to submit notices alleging intellectual property infringement. The first can be found in-product right next to the content at issue. Rights holders or their authorized representatives can report Pins they believe infringe their intellectual property rights  by clicking on the three small dots on any Pin and hitting “Report Pin,” where they will find a link to report for IP infringement. We also provide standalone, publicly-available reporting forms and dedicated email addresses, as well as our physical address, for submitting intellectual property notices, all of which can be easily located on our Policy site. 

Rights holders have the option to identify one piece of content or many. We assess each piece of content identified in a submission and when we determine a report is complete and valid, we will promptly process the report and action the content as appropriate. If we need more information about the reporting party or about any content identified, we engage with the person or entity that submitted that notice to give them the opportunity to provide that information. If at any point they are able to submit a complete and valid notice alleging intellectual property infringement, Pinterest will process the notice and deactivate the content identified.

We may consider a notice to be invalid and decline to deactivate content identified when appropriate, such as when the notice:

 

Given the complex nature of intellectual property cases, we’ve included a number of metrics to provide greater insight into the steps that we take to assess intellectual property submissions and engage with the people or entities who submit them.

 

When a user’s content is deactivated as the result of an intellectual property notice, we send them an email notification that includes information on how to appeal our actions if they wish to do so. We evaluate appeals, which may be in the form of a counter-notice under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and remedy the situation if we determine that there was an actionable appeal. As we do with intellectual property notices, we engage with the person or entity who submitted the appeal to get more information if necessary. If at any point they are able to submit a complete and valid appeal, Pinterest will take appropriate action to remedy the situation.

Pinterest has always been a place for content creators, brands and publishers worldwide to feature their content and build value. Many creators upload their own content or encourage users to do so using buttons on their websites designed to facilitate saving to Pinterest, and welcome the exposure and user traffic generated when users save images. We work hard to give creators control over their content, including by designating which websites should be linked to and receive traffic from saved images, using features like our “No Pin” code if they wish to restrict saving from their websites, or claiming content on Pinterest through our Content Claiming Portal. 

In cases where rights holders do not want their content to appear on Pinterest, we offer several mechanisms for content removal. Copyright owners and those authorized to act on their behalf can report alleged copyright infringements through our copyright reporting mechanisms including our in-product reporting option, our reporting form or via email to copyright [at] pinterest.com (copyright[at]pinterest[dot]com). Once we’ve assessed a copyright notice, we take appropriate action, which may include removing the reported content from Pinterest. We also offer the Content Claiming Portal, a tool launched in 2021 that enables rights holders to claim their content and decide if and how it appears on Pinterest. When we take action based on a copyright notice or information gathered in the Content Claiming Portal, we notify affected users and provide information on how to appeal our actions if they wish to.

Copyright and other forms of intellectual property present unique content moderation challenges. While moderators can often identify content that violates our other policies, like those prohibiting adult content or threats, simply by looking at the content, this is not the case for copyright. Identifying copyright infringement generally requires additional knowledge about the content’s origin, legal status, ownership, licensing or other information that is not readily apparent—such as whether the owner authorized use by another party through agreements that Pinterest is not privy to. Because of this, rightsholders alone are in a position to know whether a particular use is or is not authorized. The notification process is a means for rights holders to provide this necessary information to Pinterest. Copyright is also unique because the proper response to infringement is not always to deactivate the content. Some rights holders may choose to deactivate content, while others prefer to keep their content on Pinterest but correct its attribution or add a link to their website. 

For these reasons, both our moderation process and the data reported here are not always directly comparable to our other sections on Community guidelines enforcement. That’s why, for example, we’ve added metrics such as the number of notices we processed based on the initial submission and the number of times we sought more information, and omitted our metric showing the reach of deactivated Pins. We’ve updated our methodology for calculating the number of copyright notices that require additional information before processing. As a result, the respective data in previous published reports are not directly comparable to those in the first half of 2022. We’re committed to providing greater transparency into how we enforce intellectual property protections on Pinterest, and we’ll continue to iterate on this report going forward.

 

In Q1 2022, we received 22,975 submissions through our copyright reporting mechanisms. Of these submissions, 191 were determined to be requests unrelated to intellectual property and forwarded to the appropriate team at Pinterest. We determined that another 1,953 were spam and discarded them. We found 12,585 to be complete upon submission, and we processed all content identified in each notice. We sought information for an additional 7,438 submissions which we determined to be incomplete and ultimately processed 1,652 of those submissions. In total, we processed 14,237 notices and deactivated 63,817 distinct images, which comprised 13,995,413 Pins, under our copyright policies. We deactivated fewer than 1% of Pins manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We deactivated 380 accounts for violating our policy against repeat infringers. We received 650 appeals, found 487 to be complete and facially valid, and took appropriate action. 

We also received 5,211 requests through the Content Claiming Portal in Q1 2022. We processed 3,443 requests, which included deactivating 112,211 distinct images, comprising 2,703,791 Pins. We received 235 appeals for content deactivated in this manner, found 120 to be complete and facially valid, and took appropriate action.

In Q2 2022, we received 22,438 submissions through our copyright reporting mechanisms. Of these submissions, 248 were determined to be requests unrelated to intellectual property and forwarded to the appropriate team at Pinterest. We determined that another 1,709 were spam and discarded them. We found 13,038 to be complete upon submission, and we processed all content identified in each notice. We sought information for an additional 5,839 submissions which we determined to be incomplete and ultimately processed 1,493 of those submissions. In total, we processed 14,531 notices and deactivated 41,667 distinct images, which comprised 12,898,085 Pins, under our copyright policies. We deactivated fewer than 1% of Pins manually and more than 99% with hybrid tools. We deactivated 381 accounts for violating our policy against repeat infringers. We received 799 appeals, found 616 to be complete and facially valid, and took appropriate action. 

We also received 20,792 requests through the Content Claiming Portal in Q2 2022. We processed 19,152 requests, which included deactivating 34,407 distinct images, comprising 1,245,013 Pins. We received 106 appeals for content deactivated in this manner, found 45 to be complete and facially valid, and took appropriate action.

Pinterest respects the trademark rights of others. Trademark owners can contact us through our trademark reporting mechanisms, such as our in-product reporting option, the trademark complaint form or by emailing us at trademark [at] pinterest.com (trademark[at]pinterest[dot]com), if they have concerns that content on Pinterest infringes their trademark rights. We review submissions we receive and take appropriate action, including removal of the content at issue from Pinterest.

As with copyright, both our moderation process and the data reported here are not always directly comparable to our other Community guidelines enforcement. That’s why, for example, we’ve added metrics such as the number of notices we processed based on the initial submission and the number of times we sought more information, and omitted our metric showing the reach of deactivated Pins. We’ve updated our methodology for calculating the number of trademark notices that require additional information before processing. As a result, the respective data in previous published reports are not directly comparable to those in the first half of 2022.

 

In Q1 2022, we received 4,078 submissions through our trademark reporting mechanisms. Of these submissions, we determined that 364 were spam and discarded them. We found 990 to be complete upon submission, and we processed all content identified in each notice. We sought information for an additional 2,497 submissions which we determined to be incomplete and ultimately processed 97 of those submissions. In total, we processed 1,087 notices and deactivated 27,859 distinct images, which comprised 36,215 Pins, under our trademark policies. We deactivated 100% of Pins manually. We deactivated 241 boards and 205 accounts under our trademark and related policies. We received 5 appeals, found 0 to be complete and facially valid, and accordingly did not reinstate any content in response.

In Q2 2022, we received 3,321 submissions through our trademark reporting mechanisms. Of these submissions, we determined that 367 were spam and discarded them. We found 905 to be complete upon submission, and we processed all content identified in each notice. We sought information for an additional 1,778 submissions which we determined to be incomplete and ultimately processed 72 of those submissions. In total, we processed 977 notices and deactivated 27,125 distinct images, which comprised 34,366 Pins, under our trademark and related policies. We deactivated 100% of Pins manually. We deactivated 164 boards and 241 accounts under our trademark and related policies. We received 4 appeals, found 0 to be complete and facially valid, and accordingly did not reinstate any content in response.

This section provides insight into the volume of information and deactivation requests received from law enforcement and government agencies in the first half of 2022, from January through June 2022. For more information on how we respond to requests for account information, refer to our Law enforcement guidelines.

Pinterest receives legal requests from law enforcement and government agencies for Pinterest account information. We diligently review each request, and only produce data for those that meet the requirements of law and our policies. Our policy is to notify users of government requests for their information prior to disclosing, except in narrow circumstances, such as where we are prohibited by law.

* Law enforcement requests such as wiretap orders, pen registers, trap and trace, and emergency disclosure requests.

** The account owner was notified before production.

* Law enforcement requests such as emergency disclosure requests and requests issued pursuant to local law.

** The account owner was notified before production.

* Any national security letters and orders issued under the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for user information.

We sometimes receive requests from government agents to deactivate content on Pinterest that may be illegal in their country and/or a violation of our Community guidelines. 

We review the requests to determine if the content identified violates our Community guidelines. Our teams take action on violations, ranging from deactivating the content globally to restricting access to the content within the relevant country if it violates local law but does not violate our policies. 

Pinterest received requests to take down 8,857 pieces of content from January to June 2022. We deactivated content for 7,894 of those requests for violating our Community guidelines and restricted content on 637 requests. Content for 326 requests was inactive by the time it was reviewed in response to the government removal request. This can happen when, for instance, the content was deactivated in response to a user report prior to Pinterest receiving the government removal request.

* Content violated our Community guidelines and was removed from the platform.

** Content was reported by a government agency but did not violate our Community guidelines and was restricted from appearing only in the country where the request originated, based on local law.

*** Content was no longer available on the platform by the time it was reviewed in response to the government removal request.

Creating the most positive space online doesn’t happen by accident: It happens through proactive policy and product decisions. We have industry-leading positions on content safety that are informed by inputs and advice from outside experts, civil society and government. We also invest heavily in measures like machine learning technology to maintain a safe and positive space for the people on Pinterest. We’re proud of what we’re doing to keep Pinterest safe and to move the broader industry forward. 

Let’s create a safer, more inspired internet, together.